It Happened One Summer
by OddCoupler222
Summary: Of all of the gin joints, in all of the towns, in all of the world... Callie Torres walked into Arizona's. And it just might be the best thing that ever happened to either one of them. AU
1. The End And The Beginning

_September 18_

"_Callie's face is so beautiful I think she must have been sculpted by those artists I learned about in art class last week,_" she read aloud, a smile pulling at her lips as Arizona quickly moved her head up from here she was unpacking a different box to look at her, eyes wide.

The blush that was rapidly spreading over her cheeks was freaking adorable – she loved that Arizona blushed – "Calliope, where did you find that?"

She gestured at the open box next to her, "It was right on the top of the pile." In fact, there were eight of Arizona's old diaries in the box, all tied together with string and a little bow tying them together, with a note from Tim that said, _enjoy!_

And enjoy, she was, as she continued to read, "_Her smile is so white, it's blinding, and when she shows it – really shows it, not like the fake ones she gives her "friends" – I think that's the only time I've ever seen true beauty._" She paused to look back up at Arizona. Those ocean blue eyes were now squeezed tightly closed, even though she didn't really understand why, "Arizona, stop. This is the most beautiful thing someone's written about me. Even if it was written about me ten years ago."

Those eyes flipped open and a small smile played on her lips, dimples popping, "Really? I always did think I had a way with words…"

"Yes, you're practically Shakespeare. Now, let me read," she dipped her head again, eyes scanning over the next words, clearing her throat, "_I had another dream last night, that started with her smiling at me in the hallway –_"

The book was snatched away from her as Arizona lunged out, that lithe body falling on top of hers as the blonde tried to throw the book out of her grasp. As she fell back on the hardwood floor, her shoulder digging into the leg of the table, she couldn't stop laughing, "_Another_ dream? Arizona, I want to read about what you dreamt about me! Give me the diary back!"

She slid a thigh in between the blonde's, then bucked her hips up, her hands gliding up her girlfriend's arms that were fully bared to her because of the form-fitting blue tank top she had on so that she could reach Arizona's diary holding hands stretched above their heads.

Arizona gasped in surprise as she felt Callie's leg press against her, and she sent the diary sliding across the floor under the chair with a flick of her wrist before maneuvering to interlock both of their hands and shaking her hips down against her Latina's. Callie's answering gasp made her grin, and she slid her leg so that she was straddling curvy hips, "Who cares about the diary when I can just show you what I used to dream about?"

Her embarrassment at Callie even reading such a small portion of her teenage self's innermost thoughts about her was facing away, replaced with arousal sliding low into her stomach. Lowering her head, she nipped her teeth into Callie's neck, swiping her tongue over the spot and feeling her heartbeat speed up under her mouth.

That embarrassment was completely forgotten about when her girlfriend's hands flexed under hers, and then she found herself pressed under that long, supple body as Callie rolled them over. Her heart skipped a beat when full lips pressed right underneath her earlobe, right on the spot that could make her wet in a heartbeat, "Or… I could read the diary."

And while she was still waiting for her girlfriend's lips to trail down along her jaw as they usually did, she instead was missing the more than welcome weight on top of her. Scrambling to sit up, it was too late, and Callie had already slid the journal out from under the chair with her fingertips and flipped it back open.

Crossing her arms, she shrugged, "You know what? Fine. Go right ahead and read it. I'm not ashamed."

And she really wasn't. Ashamed, that is. But she couldn't deny that she was supremely embarrassed, again, those feelings rushing back and swirling in her stomach, making her cheeks flood red.

Feeling triumphant, Callie winked and made sure to exaggeratedly clear her throat, "As I was saying – or, you were saying, I guess – that dream… right, here it is. _It started with her smiling at me in the hallway. I smiled back and she winked one of those dark eyes. It happened so fast, but then there was no one else around and it was just me and Callie. She was kissing me and pressing me against the wall, and then I…"_ her eyes widened in surprise and she even felt herself blushing a little bit – though not nearly as bad as Arizona.

She resisted the urge to close her eyes, instead making herself watch as Callie's eyes scanned rapidly back and forth over the page, and, as Arizona knew her young self and the many, many sex dreams she'd had about Callie, she could only imagine what she was reading that was making her extremely un-prudish girlfriend blush.

Dark chocolate eyes finally got to the bottom of the page and paused there for a few seconds before flicking up to look at Arizona, "Huh. That was… you really had quite the imagination, didn't you?"

Crawling over to her, she used her finger to tip down the top of the diary, just skimming over a few sentences before she remembered that she had written in vivid detail her memories of the first dream she had in which she took Callie from behind… in their biology class. With a sigh and a slow smile sliding over her face, she sat back on her heels, "Yeah, well, I wasn't getting any in high school but I had to keep myself satisfied."

Now Callie did close the diary, then carefully placed it off to the side, "I take back what I said; Shakespeare would probably be blushing."

She shifted onto her hands and knees and as she stalked closer, Arizona felt like the heat notched up in the room tenfold, cerulean eyes locked on chocolate ones, both rapidly darkening as Callie spoke low in her ear, "How about… you show me whether or not you think you still have such an active imagination?"

Her eyes dipped, looking at the way Callie's tank top dipped, revealing cleavage that was free from being restricted from a bra. The fabric cut off just above where Arizona would be able to see her nipples, and she let out a small groan, turning her face so that her lips could first plant a kiss against that soft jaw, before opening to suck lightly at her skin.

But before she could, the Latina was up on her feet, calling out, "Come show me in the bedroom!"

Arizona was going to shout something back… and then words left her when that tank top was discarded and thrown at her, landing on top of her head. Tossing it to the ground, her hands were reaching for the bottom of her own shirt, eyes devouring the flesh that had just been revealed to her. Sometimes, it was hard for her even to believe that this was all real.

That her life had changed so much in just under five months.

_May 1_

"Oh god!" the words escaped Arizona in a squeak as the case of glasses in her hand slipped and fell to the floor, landing with a loud crash. Shards of glass burst from the top of the box that wasn't really closed in the first place – that was a really great job she did listening to the safety codes – and as she followed the box by dropping herself onto the ground, small bits of glass dug into her palms.

Slamming her eyes closed, she bit her bottom lip so that her exclamation of, "Fuck!" didn't get any louder than a whisper.

From next to her, Alex lightly kicked out his foot, nudging her in the side, "Dude, are you all right?"

Reaching out her fingertips, she pinched the bottom of his jeans, "Quick, get down! Before she sees you!" she gave a hard pull, forcing him to duck down behind the bar, wincing as the glass shifted in her skin.

As soon as he was crouching next to her, his boots making the glass smash even more into the wooden floor, he stared at her as though she'd grown three heads, "What the hell is going on?"

Bringing her finger up in front of her lips, she hissed back, "Whisper! Clearly, this is time for whispering." In a move that she hoped was inconspicuous, she lifted herself up – just enough for her eyes to see over the bar – and as soon as she confirmed what she had thought she'd seen in the first place, she quickly dropped back down, "You see her, right?"

Even though he was still looking at her like she was crazy, and maybe she was, he moved to peer over the bar but didn't stoop back next to her immediately, "That hot chick talking to Tim? She looks kinda familiar."

Arizona closed her eyes tightly, "She should look familiar, we went to high school with her." Without waiting for the question that she knew was coming, she turned to look at him, "That's Callie Torres."

He nodded slowly, continuing to stare, "Oh, right. She's the chick you were obsessed with who didn't know you were alive," he finally turned back to face her, only to smirk.

Using the back of her hand, she slapped him in the shoulder, "Screw you! I wasn't… she knew I was alive."

He rolled his eyes at her, snorting, "Yeah, and you two were so close and pers- she's coming over here."

Her eyes widened as she looked around at herself; bloody hands and ripped jeans was not the way she would want Callie Torres to see her after nearly seven years. Not that she ever expected to see Callie Torres ever again after high school graduation, maybe beyond a passing look in the street. What the hell was she doing _here_?

Quickly, she tapped her hand against Alex's arm, ordering, "Stand up. I'm not here."

And, as if it were possible, she tried to press herself completely against the bar as if she could disappear into it. Which was ridiculous, because Arizona Robbins did not feel like this. Maybe in high school she did, but not _now_. As much as her mind told her to stand up with Alex, the part of herself that had actual control over her movements kept her grounded.

The fact that her heart beat faster at the sound of that voice made her feel even more foolish – she wasn't sixteen anymore, damn it – as Callie asked, "I was told to come over here to speak to Arizona?"

What? Shit. Were her legs visible? Why was Callie freaking Torres asking to speak to her? When Alex didn't respond right away, she gave him an elbow to the shin, which seemed to get him going, "Oh, uh, right, well, Z's kind of busy. Getting…" he looked down at her, and she jerked her head to the box of broken wine glasses next to her, "Some more wine glasses. Something I can help you with?"

Arizona held her breath waiting for the answer as it took a few more seconds for Callie to say, "Well, I was just talking to Tim over by the door, and he said that I had to talk to Arizona about setting up something about getting some catering for the bar at a party? Are you sure you can't… find her… somewhere? Like, behind the bar?"

Heat rushed to her cheeks and she closed her eyes for just a second before slowly standing, "Wow, the trip from the basement to get those wine glasses gets shorter and shorter every time."

When she opened her eyes, she was met with an amused smile and quirk of an eyebrow. And her throat ran dry, because there was a reason she'd, as Alex would say, been obsessed with her throughout her teenage years.

This woman was a goddess. And she had only improved with time.

But those eyes were the same. Endlessly dark, and right now they were lit up in laughter, even as her eyebrow lifted in question and she stood up on her tiptoes, to look down at the dropped and broken wine glasses. Arizona followed her gaze, and she could just feel how red her cheeks were, "I… tripped."

Alex scoffed in laughter next to her, "Yeah, okay."

Narrowing her eyes, she reached for the rag he'd been using to wipe down the bar – grimacing as the movement made the glass shift in her palms – and tossed it farther down, "Go finish wiping down the bar."

He rolled his eyes then gave her a mock salute, "Yes, _boss_."

Turning her attention back to Callie, she cleared her throat, "You said you were interested in getting us to cater the bar for a party?"

But instead of answering, the taller woman was looking at her hands, "You're bleeding."

Her own eyes trailed down, and so she was. Really. Arizona, through the years – after she'd gotten rid of the thickly framed glasses she'd worn in high school and finally gotten those horrible braces off – had learned to use what she had to her advantage. What she had was the job of a bar owner near a marina in south Miami. She could rock being a hot bar owner. Most of the time.

But of course it was during the day – not even during business hours – that she was wearing an old Dolphins baseball cap with her hair in a messy ponytail with a faded t-shirt. And her hands were being held, palm up, over the counter between them, as blood started dripping down. Instinctively, she cupped one hand over the over and stepped back, "I'll, um, be right back."

"You're not just going to pick glass out of your own hands," Callie deadpanned, mirroring her movements.

She shook her head, "No, I'll get –" she turned her head, only to see that both her brother and Alex had disappeared outside the open door.

The brunette followed her gaze, "I can help. It's no problem."

Ah yes. Just what she wanted – her sexy teenage dream-only-sexier-now helping pull little bits and pieces of glass out of her palms. She hoped the blush on her face could be blamed on the muggy heat of the day outside, muttering, "Um, okay. Thanks. It's – we keep the first-aid kit in the employee's bathroom."

She gestured to the area of the bar that was flipped up and open for Callie to walk through… then as the Latina started to walk, she told herself not to stare. But quickly gave up on that, because she wasn't a nerdy sixteen-year-old who was in the closet and because seven years later had made those hips that plagued young dreams fuller and the butt that was underneath denim shorts was just screaming for blue eyes to watch.

And because she wasn't sixteen anymore, she knew exactly when to move her eyes back up that body so she was looking at Callie's face when she crossed over to the other side of the bar, the small smile still on her lips, "Employee's bathroom? I feel so special."

Leading them down a thin, cramped hallway, through to the end room, she leaned up on her tiptoes and turned on the hanging light, which illuminated the small, windowless back room in a lowly glowing fluorescent light, giving her a humorless smile in return, "You shouldn't feel _that_ special."

Undoubtedly, Callie was used to lavish settings, and this bathroom – while they kept it clean – was still a little dusty, dank, and dark. Not an extremely special place, indeed. As she reached her hands up to flip open the small mirror then went to take the first-aid kit into her hands before a tan hand reached out, and gently brushed her hip, making her freeze for just a second, "Don't. You don't want to force the glass any deeper."

In this small room, they were so close that she could smell Callie. For about a second, she thought it was strange that she remembered what she smelled like in high school… then she thought about how she'd spent every day in biology class for almost two months trying to determine what exactly she smelled like; hell, she remembered everything about Callie – and even if she didn't, she was certain she had it written down in her old diaries somewhere. She crushed on her, hard, for five years.

It had taken her three of those years before she'd even had the courage to say hello.

And even though Alex had teased her mercilessly for that fact back in the day, it was just the way things were. She hadn't understood makeup and had no female figure in her life to help her figure it out; instead she had her dad, who owned a bar, and an older brother, who was obsessed with football, and as a product of her environment, had grown up a tomboy, whose wavy hair seemed only manageable when it was up in a ponytail. … those glasses and braces hadn't helped, either. Alex's own glasses and braces, plus outbreaks of acne, weren't pushing him to go talk to the privileged, pretty, popular girls, either.

She shook her head lightly to bring her back to the present, which was unnecessary as Callie's hand reached out and gently wrapped around her wrist, pulling one of her hands between them, after she'd already pulled out the tweezers from the kit. As the brunette pulled her hand up close to her face, Arizona watched her and wondered if Callie even remembered her at all.

Which was solved when she cleared her throat, "So, what have you been doing since high school?" she asked, and for some reason, the fact that she remembered her relieved her. Her crush might have been completely one-sided, but at least she didn't feel like a stalker. Completely.

A sardonic laugh fell from her lips at the question, her eyes wandering around the room, "You're looking at it." Not wanting to dwell on her shortcomings since high school, she changed the subject, "What about you?"

The question might have been pointless, because the private high school her dad had broken his back to send she and Tim to that Callie had also gone to wasn't very big, and back in the day, word had traveled quickly where members of their class were going after graduation. She knew that Callie had gone to Florida State. However, she wasn't about to reveal that information.

Those dark eyes were still focused on her hands as she moved her attention to the other palm, her voice was low in her concentration as she answered, "Well, I graduated from college a few years back, and I just got home from serving in the Peace Corps."

She could feel her own eyes widen, and involuntarily smiled; for the years of her youth, both Alex and Tim had mocked her crush on Callie, and despite the fact that she didn't _really_ know the Latina – at least enough to be proclaiming anything more than puppy love – she'd always felt it necessary to defend her. It felt kind of… validating, even if it was a little late, "That's… awesome. Saving the world, huh?"

But Callie didn't smile back, instead, she quickly plucked the last piece of glass out – which was surprising to her, because she'd had her dad, Tim, and Alex all help her pull glass and splinters from her skin before and she had always been acutely aware of the way the metal had dug into her skin.

As she reached for the band-aids, Arizona looked at the slightly miserable look that had taken up residence on her face, and reality set in like a slap to the face about this extremely surreal chain of events. Callie Torres was not some old high school girlfriend or even friend who was here to catch up with her. She was a potential customer who had the possibility of bringing a different avenue of business – business that the bar could really use. And here she was playing nurse to Arizona. _Very professional_. If Arizona had been smart, she would have brushed off Callie's offer to help and gone to find either one of the guys, and offered her customer a drink while she waited.

Kicking the toe of her work boot into the ground, she placed her hand on the top of the first-aid kit before Callie could open it, "I can handle it from here. Thank you, though. I can meet you out there to talk about that party in a minute?"

It was as if her words served to draw Callie out of whatever she was thinking, as well, and she stood up straight, blinking a few times – as if realizing that she was in the back of a bar, using tweezers to pick glass out of an almost-stranger's hand. Pearly white teeth bit into her bottom lip before those dark eyes sought out hers, as she nodded, "Okay. Sounds good."

Arizona watched her walk back down the hallway before using her boot to shut the door and stare at herself in the mirror. After she washed her hands, she made quick work of packing up the first-aid kit and placing it behind the mirror again, then reached up and adjusted the bill of her hat.

It was kind of frightening how easily her memories of high school and Callie came back to easily, after she hadn't thought of her in years. But really, it didn't matter; this was nothing. Callie Torres would walk out of here soon without looking back, and Arizona would soon forget about her, again.

The hand she'd been reaching for the doorknob stilled for a moment, then she leaned back in to the mirror. Callie might be gone again in a few minutes, but for those few minutes, she could fix her hair a bit and go back out to the bar looking better – no.

Wrinkling her nose at herself in the mirror, she winked. She looked just fine now; Callie was the one who came into a bar that was on the poorer side of town than she lived on and this was the result.

Wiping her hands on her thighs, she made her way back out to the bar area, pausing to grab a pad of paper and a pen from next to the cash register before making her way to where Callie was sitting, flipping it open on the mahogany of the bar across from the brunette, "All right, so what do we have going on?"

She scribbled in the shorthand that only she, Alex, and Tim understood, listening to Callie describe exactly what she needed ordered in for whatever party the Torres family was throwing next week. The liquor order was definitely do-able… however, it was certainly for more expensive stuff than they usually ordered for their bar.

After reading the list back to Callie, she bit her lip, before moving her eyes from the paper to the other woman's face, "Not that I'm complaining or anything… but what brought you to Just Cause?"

Her features shifted into that grin as her eyes looked up at Arizona through thick eyelashes, "I've heard good things."

And the sultry tone of her voice made her heart jump and heat rise to her cheeks once more, because even if she wasn't the teenage fantasy girl Arizona had dreamt about, she was still the most stunning woman who she'd ever laid eyes on.

Rapping her knuckles on the bar, she cleared her throat, "Oh, the Forbes-Montgomery party, right?"

A few months ago – after she'd spent upwards of a year begging Tim to expand on being just an average bar – the Just Cause had finally started to branch out to bar catering services at other events. It was a win-win situation, as, even though most of their venues so far had been pretty small, it still brought in the extra cash that they needed.

And three weeks ago, Marion Forbes-Montgomery had called her in a tizzy because the high-end liquor caterer and bartender she'd hired canceled at the last minute, and she needed someone to do in a pinch. They might have been a last minute choice, but she, Tim, and Alex had gone in with their best.

Apparently, it paid off.

Callie thought about the way Addison's mother had rolled her eyes and mentioned "that little Just Cause bar" had done an "adequate" job of filling in for the business they usually used, a tight smile coming up onto her lips, "Yep, they had some really good things to say."

Arizona thought of the way the matriarch of one of the wealthiest families in the area had looked at her, disdain practically dripping from her features, and bit her lip, "I'm sure."

As she read over the order slip to make sure there was everything Callie had requested, she lifted her eyebrows, "The estimation for the alcohol alone is going to be almost three thousand… and you said this is a small party?"

Callie nodded, reaching for her purse, "Mhmm. Do I have to pay now or –"

She shook her head, clicking the pen and lying it on the order pad, "Nope. You pay us once you're satisfied with everything."

Those perfectly shaped eyebrows rose, "How do you know I'll be satisfied?"

"It's a guarantee," her response came out as natural as could possibly be, and she found herself winking before she internally slapped herself. _Callie hadn't been flirting with you, idiot._

Flirting or not, a small smile that still made her stomach flutter a little bit, played on those full lips as she slid her purse over her shoulder, "Great. So, you have everything you need?"

Barely wanting to look away from her face, Arizona glanced down: alcohol specific order, name, number, date of party, address… "Yep, everything looks like it's in order."

Callie braced her hands on the bar and pushed herself up, "All right. It was, uh, nice seeing you, Arizona."

It was definitely in her imagination that the stunning Latina kept eye contact for longer than was socially normal, she was sure. Regardless, she felt a large smile tug at her lips, "You, too."

And just like that, as quickly as she'd walked into the bar, she was gone. She let her eyes linger on the doorway for just a moment before shaking her head with a laugh. Callie Torres. Huh. The laugh turned into a groan when she realized she still had the shattered glad on the floor, but before she could even take a step toward it, the door to the bar came crashing open, and for a second she thought for some reason Callie was coming back.

Then she heard her brother's voice, "Wow, Z, quick work with that one. She was in and out of here in less than a half hour."

Waving the order pad in the air, she glared at him, "Watch your sass, Tim."

Alex came barging in right behind him, his voice high-pitched in an imitation of hers, "Oh, _Calliope_, I love you. I've always loved you. Take me now!"

Now she just waved her middle finger in the air, "I'm in here, professionally conducting a business transaction and you guys up and disappear."

Tim held up both of his hands in the air, eyebrows shooting up on his forehead, "Woah, business transaction? I've always told you, never be desperate enough to sell your body."

Before she could throw the cloth that had been cleaning the bar before the guys had gone outside at him, Alex scoffed, "Professional? You fell to the ground and tried to hide from her!"

She flexed her hands, still feeling stinging in the areas the glass had dug into, "It was my first instinct. Couldn't help it." Biting her lip, she shook her head, looking around at the bar, "Now, come on; we're officially a half hour behind schedule."

They were supposed to open their doors in less than an hour and they still had to bring in their last shipment from outback, take down all the stools flipped up on tables, and do the final sweep and wipe-down. And there was that whole matter of the shattered glasses…

Before she could take a step back, both of the guys had jumped up, leaning onto the counter and each locking an arm around hers, double teaming her in a way that didn't allow her to move and that they _knew_ she hated. Both Tim and Alex were inches away from her face; the bill of Tim's hat knocking into the one she was wearing as her brother somehow managed to elbow her in the side, though for the life of her, she would never know how, "Come on! You wanted this girl – who is now a totally hot woman – for like ten years –"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Five."

And his mirroring blue eyes rolled back at her, "And now that you're not all weird and geeky –"

"She's still weird and geeky," Alex threw in, making both Robbins look at him as if to say, _and you aren't_. He shrugged.

Tim tipped his head back and let out a deep, exasperated breath, "My freaking god, I'm just trying to say that you should go for it. How often do you get the chance to show the person of your high school fantasy all of the things you wish you could've shown them back in your awkward years? Barely ever. And then she specifically seeks out _our_ bar in _our_ area of town and asks to talk to you… come on."

He nudged his elbow into her again, and they both loosened their grip enough to let her slide her arms out of their hold, though they remained both leaning on an elbow over the bar, staring at her. It really took as little as Tim's words to start this little image in her head of she and Callie… nope.

She shook her head, "Not even going to go there. She's already gone, which is good for three little reasons: first of all, you know, she's straight –"

Both of the men just stared at her, before speaking at the same time.

"But is she _really_?"

"In the last six years, when has that stopped you?"

But Callie Torres wasn't just some other girl that she could approach. They had a history… even if it was primarily a one-sided history. To _her_ young self, Callie was a big part of her life. And she could still remember her major boyfriend's names to this day – and even back in high school there were several. And no girlfriends.

Ignoring both statements, she lifted a second finger, then brought both of them down to tap on the order pad she'd put down, "And she's a customer."

The guys looked at each other, their eyebrows drawn down incredulously, before they looked back at her, this time speaking in unison, "You sleep with customers all of the time!"

Her mouth fell open, "Not all of the time!" In fact, she hadn't had sex in… god, almost two months. Damn. She was appalled at herself; she hadn't gone that long since she had lost her virginity at nineteen. How did that much time pass by without her even noticing? And now that she was thinking about it, and she kind of felt like she could still feel Callie's hands on her still, soft and gentle, her voice low as they'd talked – letting out a quiet groan, she ignored the slight protest her skin gave as she balled both of her hands and hit both her brother and best friend in the shoulder, "Besides, they're normal customers; not someone who's giving us a huge business opportunity – and no matter what, we're forgetting the biggest reason here: she is _Callie Torres_."

Things might have changed since high school, thank god. But one thing that had not changed that was clear from their brief interaction this afternoon – Callie was _still_ pretty, popular, and privileged. Even more so – even _better_ – now. She'd graduated college and had been in the Peace Corps, and was now apparently planning a "small" extravagant party for her peers. As her life and experiences had grown, she'd gotten even better looking than Arizona could have even imagined.

She might not have been the same girl with glasses and braces, but she was still the co-owner and bartender of a small business; they were very much still playing in two completely different leagues.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Any and all feedback is absolutely welcome. This is just going to be a short story, about 5 chapters, that I'm pumping out just to break through the writer's block that's plaguing me.**


	2. How It Starts

_May 13_

It would be hard for her to explain why stepping through the worn wood doorway into the Just Cause Bar made her feel more at-home than she had in the last month. The feeling wasn't one that she had anticipated, but it was entirely more than welcome.

Never before in Callie's life had she ever left in the middle of a yacht party. Until about a half hour ago.

She had spent much of her life on the vessel she had just snuck away from. It was one of her father's prized boats; it wasn't the absolute biggest one he owned, but it was the best. Which was why it was the one that they frequently had parties on; the party they were currently in the middle of, happened to be one that was supposed to welcome her back.

Except, she didn't feel welcomed.

The dress she was wearing was one that her mother had bought in preparation for her return to the party; the material was a rich, soft black silk that skimmed against the back of her knees as she stood looking out into the water. All she'd come back to for the last month were memories. And they weren't memories that she was particularly fond of.

Even this party, right now: there were the same people, the same families she'd grown up with. She had been gone for twenty-eight months, almost two and a half years, but… these people were all the same. Everything was all the same. The other people she'd talked to while in Botswana, the other people who were serving in the Peace Corps, they would all talk about how they couldn't wait to go home and see the old towns and people they had left behind.

It took coming back for her to really see that she didn't feel the same way they did, at all.

"Callie!" her mother's voice came from behind her, and she barely managed to mask her wince before she turned around, trying to search for a fake smile to plaster on her face.

Lucia was dressed in one of her own expensive dresses and she was walking forward so quickly, she really didn't know what else to call that pace aside from charging. The smile on the older woman's features was just as forced, and Callie didn't have to wonder why, even as she asked, "Yes?"

"This is _your_ welcome back; all of these people are here to see you. And you're just staring into the ocean as if you don't have the entire group of all of your friends here," she nodded to a group of people standing a few feet away before coming to stand directly in front of Callie, "Are you feeling all right?"

Now she couldn't resist shaking her head, the smile falling from her face, "I'm feeling fine." Her eyes wandered over the people who had shown up for this events; people who worked with her parents, people who lived in their neighborhood. People who she used to fit in with and ever since she'd gotten back, she just couldn't.

She was _different_ now. She had just spent two years out of here, away from this life, and it had changed her; no one here understood that. She went to college at Florida State and partied her way through a meaningless psych major, after treating the majority of high school like a joke. She used to be a spoiled little rich girl and she _used_ to fit in with everyone at this party. And now… she just doesn't. Even as she had tried to explain it to her family for the last month, they didn't understand, either. Her mom had been convinced that she "picked something up" in Africa and that was why she wasn't behaving as the same girl she had been before.

Her parents, sister, and old friends kept looking at her like they were expecting the Callie who had left those twenty-eight months ago, but she wasn't here anymore. And she wasn't coming back, despite the many reassurances she'd been given that she just had to settle back in, get back into the swing of things.

As her mother's eyes narrowed, Callie bit her lip, "Actually, I kind of have a headache," the lie fell from her lips easily and her mom nodded, her features instantly softening.

"Why don't you lie down in one of the cabins for a few minutes?"

Those words had been her golden ticket. As soon as her mother had turned back to the guests, none of whom were really paying her any mind anyway, she had walked in the direction of the stairs, like she was going to go to below deck. But as soon as she glanced over her shoulder to see that no one was watching, she turned and went in the direction of the stairs leading down to the dock.

As soon as her shoes hit the wood, she had felt infinitely better. Like all of the social pressures that were on her shoulders up on that boat were gone. And she wanted more of this feeling, which she wasn't going to find if she tried to go back to her parent's house. As she walked off of the docks and neared the parking area, her eyes landed on a large pickup truck that had to be at least ten years old. It stuck out like a sore thumb parked amongst the other cars that were all modeled within the last year.

She knew instantly that it belonged to Tim Robbins, who was currently manning the bar inside. Her visit to the Just Cause almost two weeks ago had been brief, but she'd enjoyed it. And it was that most basic feeling that she followed, leading her out of the area she had grown up in, down into the more southern area of the city.

Her heels clacked on the floor, but the sound was nearly hidden under the music coming from the juke box in the corner. When she had come into the bar before, it had been before business hours. The inside was neat and tidy, with small round tables and stools flipped upside down on them. It had been empty, save for the three people working.

Now, it was packed. It wasn't like any other bar she'd ever been into – she hadn't gone out since she'd been back, but before… she'd never come to this area of town before. Large, big name clubs had been her thing, not small bars. Settling herself on an open stool at the end of the bar, she looked around.

It was completely different in here, as the sounds of music and people talking and shouting. She could smell the ocean and liquor. Not the expensive stuff that her been on her list to order for the party, but stuff she would expect in a normal bar. Definitely better than the stuff she would buy in Botswana, she thought with a small laugh. She could smell the polish used to clean all of the wood, too. All combined, it smelled different, but strangely nice.

"Sitting at the bar comes with a price," a gruff voice said from her left.

"I'll have a rum and coke," she said, turning to face the man tending this section of the bar. His sleeves were rolled up to the shoulder with a cloth tossed over his shoulder, and his hands moved quickly with clear skill.

She vaguely recognized him… he was here when she'd come in last week. He was the one who had told her Arizona was in the basement when she'd been crouched behind the bar, she remembered. And she had been kind of hoping that the blonde would be the one who was on the other side of the bar from her tonight.

The blonde had been the only person she'd been in contact with from her life pre-Peace Corps that hadn't looked at her like she expected her to be something – someone – she wasn't. Granted, it wasn't like she and Arizona Robbins had ever been close back in high school; they hadn't even talked since graduation. But it was nice to be looked at like someone remembered her as a person that she might actually want to be.

And when she'd told her about coming back from the Peace Corps, Arizona hadn't looked at her in bafflement, bewilderment, or confusion, the way the people who were back on that yacht had. She looked at her with… well, Callie couldn't quite put her finger on what that look was. But she knew that she'd liked it.

A lot.

As soon as the drink was placed in front of her, someone from the end of the bar called out, "Hey, Z!"

Even though the man bartender was still in front of her, she leaned to the side, and could see a flash of curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, a bright grin on Arizona's face as she entered behind the bar area on the other end from where she was sitting, already captured into conversation with the woman who had shouted for her. Dark eyes stayed on her face as she took another sip of her drink.

The man who made her drink moved on to other customers, and she settled back into her seat. It was easy to relax into the atmosphere here, despite the fact that the cocktail dress she had on was clearly not the typical style for this place. It was… comfortable here – and she liked that feeling. It was becoming apparent to her that she liked this place – the bar itself, the feeling inside of it, and the people here, she thought, watching Arizona lean forward over the bar and whisper something into a woman's ear, lips _this_ close to touching, with a sweet smile was on her face.

Arizona had always had a sweet smile, Callie remembered, tipping the rest of her drink back. Placing the glass back down, she shook her head – it wasn't that she was surprised that she remembered the blonde from high school. But she was surprised at how much she remembered.

When she'd come into the Just Cause and she'd ran into Tim, she could easily remember him as one of the star players on the football team. Her memories of him weren't super clear, because he had graduated when she was a sophomore; but he'd been a pretty popular guy, and she'd been a pretty popular girl. And even though he was older now, his shoulders broader, muscles bigger, he still looked very similar to how she remembered him from a decade ago.

Seeing Arizona had been kind of a surprise, but at the same time kind of not. The woman who was wearing cutoffs with a worn plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, as she made drinks with ease and finesse that came from easy habit and memory, smiling that sweet dimpled smile while keeping up conversation down with those women down at the other end was hot. Hot was an understatement.

And that definitely was not how she remembered Arizona Robbins. The Arizona Robbins in her memory was... different. She wore rectangular black-framed glasses, and had silver braces lining both the top and bottom set of her teeth. While both Arizona's wore their hair in ponytails, the ones worn in high school were not as carelessly sexy as this one was. And her body had been far less curvy… or maybe Callie just didn't take notice of Arizona's body back then.

Her first experience where she really knowingly checked out another woman hadn't been until college. In high school, she'd had eyes only for boys.

Too many boys; some that she didn't even really remember. There were the major ones, but the guys she'd dated in passing, she could barely remember anything about them beyond their names. Not only had she partied her way through college, but high school as well.

Which brought her back to being surprised at how much she did, in fact, remember about the blonde-haired woman tending bar. After being lab partners with her for two years – alphabetical order always saw them together – it would have been impossible for her _not_ to remember some things, like how deep her dimples were when she smiled.

But she even remembered some things like how one time, Mark had jokingly knocked her books out of her hands and onto the floor and by the time she'd turned around to pick them up after yelling at him, Arizona had already gathered them into a neat pile and had handed them to her, with that sweet smile, braces and dimples on full display.

She could remember joking around with her in lab, and she remembered that Arizona would always tell really geeky jokes, ones about things like the periodic table. And for some reason, she had always found them funny.

These random thoughts hadn't really occurred to her in years. In fact, even when they'd been in high school together, as soon as they weren't in class anymore, she was back to… god, she didn't know. Making plans of how to finagle getting her dad to buy her the latest, most advanced, expensive whatever-the-fuck was coming out ten years ago.

Still watching as Arizona threw her head back in laughter while maintaining a steady pouring of vodka into a glass for some mixed drink, she nearly found herself smiling in response. She debated making her way down to the other end of the bar to talk to her… but decided against it. Because what would they even talk about? Their one interaction had been – well, she felt like it should have been awkward, but she hadn't felt awkward. It had been strange.

A nice strange.

Her gaze was only drawn away when she felt her phone vibrate from her clutch that was resting next to her glass. It made her jump, just a little – she still wasn't used to having a phone like this again. Drawing it out, she saw a text from her sister, _Where are you? Mom's pissed._

Taking in a deep breath, she blew it out, blowing her hair with it just a bit before her thumbs hovered over the screen, wondering what to say. At that particular moment, a song came on through the jukebox and a loud "Oorah!" chorused around the patrons of the bar, followed by everyone who had a drink in their hand taking a shot.

She didn't know exactly what had happened, but that seemed to have gotten everyone excited, and she found herself laughing along with them, writing back to Aria, _I stepped out for some fresh air_.

And it was a really nice breath of fresh air, she thought, as she watched Arizona lift a shot glass in her own hand and down it; she was going to stay for just a little longer.

_May 17_

"Dude, she's been here for four nights; you need to talk to her," Alex practically growled at her as she jimmied open the door to the storage closet.

It was nearing closing time on a Sunday night, and – given that the summer really wasn't in full swing yet – they were full of the regular customers, who knew that when the two people working the bar went out back to start getting the cleaning materials from the storage room meant that it was time to down their drinks from last call and then get out.

She thought of the way Callie looked, sitting at the end of the bar that was naturally Alex's to tend to when it was the two of them working together, which it had been for the last four nights. The first night that the Latina had walked in, wearing in that incredible dress, she thought that her eyes might have popped out of her head.

Because what had Callie Torres been doing back in the bar, the very night of her party?

But she hadn't asked. Because she hadn't approached her that night. Or the night after. Or last night, either. She didn't know what sort of power Callie had over her, but even while she could flirt with some of the hottest women who came into the bar, looking at Callie very much made her feel like diving behind the bar and hiding. She didn't _want_ Callie Torres to repeatedly see her as the lower class bartender; she wanted to somehow wow her.

Rolling her eyes, she threw a cloth at Alex, then tossed him the bottle of cleaner before reaching out to grab the handle of the mop and yanking on it to drag the bucket out from the corner it was in, "Who says she's here to see me?"

He gave her the look that she could read so easily after being friends for so long, the one that told her she was an idiot, "What the hell else do you think she's here for?"

She definitely wasn't there for the drinks. Because the alcohol that was at that fancy yacht party Tim was tending – dressed up in a rented tuxedo, which he'd grumbled about, because never in their bartending experience did the person pouring drinks need to be as dressed up as a guest – was undoubtedly better tasting than the basic stuff they were serving here.

Plus, Arizona, while minding her customers, chatting, pouring drinks, felt like the special sixth-Callie sense she'd developed in high school had just been lying dormant in the last seven years because somehow it was kicking up now. And with it, she knew that Callie hadn't gotten drunk in the nights that she'd been here.

Tripping slightly as she unjammed the mop bucket, getting it to roll out into the hallway, she stumbled into the opposite wall, catching herself just before she fell, then throwing Alex a look over her shoulder, "Yes, look at me trip over my own feet; of course Callie is here to see me."

He pushed her shoulder, "She is. I'm the one who has to see her stare at you with those big, miserable eyes every night. I'm telling you, Z, she wants you. At least talk to the chick."

As they emerged from the end of the hall, she was about to argue with him because life just seemed easier without these butterflies that Callie Torres could still give her with just a look after she had thought that she was done with feelings like that years ago. And then she watched as those dark eyes looked around as the regular customers stood to go, and she saw that Alex was right.

They were miserable.

She could remember seeing a similar glint in them several times in the past; and every time it was there, Callie's sadness just seemed… _palpable_. They weren't anything more than acquaintances, but Arizona challenged anyone to look at those wide, dark chocolate eyes and not want to make the face they were on spark up with a smile again.

And these butterflies, while she certainly hadn't missed them, also made her feel somehow more alive than she had in a long time. Quickly shoving the handle of the mop into Alex's chest and grabbing the cloth and the cleaner from his hands, she shooed him, "All right, you talked me into it. How do I look?"

He scoffed, "Like a dork, as always."

She accepted it with a nod, "Fair enough."

Both of his hands reached up, taking a hold of her shoulders and turning her in Callie's direction, "You're hot now; you've got good boobs and no braces. Go for it."

Her eyebrows drew down as she shook her head, muttering, "What words of encouragement." In all reality, as long as she didn't have her hands all bloody, this was less awkward than their last meeting had been.

She was already a few steps ahead.

With a deep breath, she walked forward, coming to stand in front of Callie, where those eyes snapped up to look at her, and a flash of sadness came over her face, "Oh, right. You're closing early, because it's Sunday. I'll, uh, go now."

Before she could think too much about it, Arizona reached out, her fingers just brushing lightly over the soft skin of a tan arm, "Don't," the word left her mouth in a rush, her hand dropping, a blush heating up her cheeks. She cleared her throat, "If I'm an expert in anything, it's this bar. And being an expert, I know that no one comes here four nights in a row – not even to drink – if they have anywhere else that they want to be. Why don't you just… tell me what's up?" she started to wipe down the area of the bar between them and hoped that she sounded casual.

Callie stared at her, biting down on her bottom lip, surprised at herself because she actually _wanted_ to tell Arizona "what's up." But the blonde had always been nice, and that was probably what she was doing right now – being nice, "No, it's fine."

Those clear blue eyes narrowed, "Really?" Clearing her throat, she threw the cloth over her shoulder and brought her hands to her hips, "You know, studies have shown that being a bartender is one of the top three jobs that people feel comfortable talking to."

Callie let out a low chuckle, "Is that right?"

Smiling back, she nodded, "It is. And even beyond that – what are old high school…" friends was a little too far, "… people… there for?"

Running her eyes up and down Arizona's face, taking in the slightly crooked smile she was giving her, she let out a sigh, "I'm going to medical school in the fall. Stanford. Which is amazing, and I can't wait to go. But the whole reason I even applied was because…" she trailed off, and her eyes lost focus as she squints at something nondescript over Arizona's shoulder, her mind racing because the words that wanted to come out were words that she hadn't really told anyone before, "Can I just... talk? You might be sorry you asked," she warned, lifting her eyebrows.

Unable to stop herself, Arizona threw her head back in a quick laugh, because she _knew _she wouldn't be sorry she asked… if only Callie knew, "Hey, I'm sure that I've heard far, far less interesting and more worthless stories then hearing about why you decided to go to medical school. I see many of the same people in this bar every night; you'd really be doing me a favor to tell me about you."

She could tell by the way Callie was looking at her that she was measuring how much Arizona had meant those words, and she must have been able to tell that she really meant them, because both of her hands came up to rest on the bar, interlocking together as she took a deep breath, "When I graduated from college, I moved into an apartment in Miami Beach and just… partied, even more than I already had been during school. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I didn't really care, you know?"

Arizona didn't know, not really, because she'd been working constantly to pull her own weight ever since high school. But Callie wasn't really asking her, and she just continued, "I don't even remember most of those days; I drank and slept around and went clubbing, and I thought that was the good life. Then I went home for my father's birthday, and my sister came in. I – you probably don't remember my sister," Callie said, this time waiting for an answer.

She had, in her years of digging to find out everything about Callie, known that she had a younger sister. But she just shook her head, "Not really, no."

Callie took that and nodded, "Aria – she's three years younger than we are. So there I was, twenty-two, at my parents' house to celebrate my father's birthday. My father, who has done everything for me that I could have ever asked for, and all I can do is think about when can I leave so I can make it back to my apartment to get ready to go out drink with my friends. And while I was making plans to leave, my underage sister comes stumbling in drunk, screaming at Kelsey, our maid, blaming her for stealing some necklace or other, demanding that our parents fire her. Kelsey's been our maid since we were in diapers – it was… eye opening. And all I could do was stare and think, holy shit. That's me."

Stopping, she dropped her hands down to brace against the edge of the bar, shaking her head, "No, it wasn't." And she really couldn't imagine that being true. Maybe she didn't really _know_ Callie back in high school, maybe they hadn't been friends. But she did know that while they went to a school where most of the students had either made fun or her or looked down on her because her family made marginally less money and she had spent her adolescence in somewhat of an awkward stage, the woman sitting across from her had never treated her the way the other pretty, popular, privileged girls had.

Callie just gave her a look, "Maybe not that bad or those exact circumstances, but I was someone Aria looked up to, and I was wasting my life away, doing nothing but being a spoiled little… bitch."

"Hey, now, there will be no calling yourself a spoiled bitch here. This is a no-insulting-yourself zone," she held up her finger and wagged it, making Callie laugh. And, as it always had, knowing that she was responsible for that sound made her feel immensely proud of herself.

She nodded, while giving Arizona a look that clearly didn't believe her, "All right, I won't say it again, but it was true. And that's what motivated me to apply for the Peace Corps. I was kind of shocked that I even got in, but I did. And after three months of training, I was sent to Botswana. I lived in a little village in Setswana; the nearest town was a forty minute drive away and I was living in a little hut without electricity, helping with sanitation and learning centers, mostly, for the first year. And then last year, there was a polio breakout. I saw it in _so_ many people and…" she broke off, shaking her head, still clearly able to see all of that suffering so clearly, "We don't even think about it here; it's not even a concern. These people didn't have indoor plumbing, let alone vaccinations."

Groaning lightly, she dropped her head into her hands, "All of it made me feel like I needed to be doing something, you know? So, I'm excited to be going to Stanford. And I finally feel like I know what I want to be doing. Like I finally have a purpose… that sounds so corny," she rolled her eyes at herself, laughing slightly.

But Arizona just stood there, staring at her, "No, it sounds nice." Lifting her hand, she scratched at the back of her head, "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of jealous." Not only of that feeling – that driven, you just _know_ feeling, but of the most basic things like how Callie got out of Miami. That she went to college and experienced life.

Callie let out a humorless laugh, "Well in the meantime, I'm back to living with my family, and seeing all of these people live the same way I was living and I… hate it. I hate looking around at all of those people and knowing that that life was my life."

Reaching down, she poured herself a glass of water, "Well, you're welcome to hang out about here as much as you want. I like to think that I make an excellent friend, and I basically live in this bar, so…"

The smile she got in response was nearly blinding and it made her heart race, "I appreciate that, and I'll probably take you up on it." She took a deep breath, then looked around, "So, what about you? In high school, you were the smartest person I knew. I thought for sure _you'd_ be the one in medical school by now."

Arizona blushed, "I'm surprised you remember that I wanted to be a doctor."

Callie chuckled, "Believe me, eleventh grade AP bio is mostly a blur for me. But I do know that I wouldn't have passed without you and you were the most interesting person in class."

Lifting an eyebrow, she just stared, "Umm, I don't know what class you remember, but I was the captain of the geek squad. Actually, that's too ambitious; I was the wall flower of the geek squad – which is even worse."

The brunette threw her head back and released a full-bellied laugh now, "Well, I liked you; you seemed like you would have made a good friend. Of course, I never invited you to hang out with me because I was a poiled-say itch-bay but you looked like you had a good enough time with your friend, anyway."

Arizona choked on the water she was drinking, spitting it back in the glass because she was giggling so hard, "Trust me, if you invited me to hang out with you, I probably would have died. Literally, keeled over and died." After she managed to calm herself, she reached down to grab her cloth from where it was resting, rubbing it in circles, her eyes focused on the bar as those butterflies that had somehow disappeared without her noticing made their grand reappearance, "I – uh – liked you, too. As a little more than a friend. A lot more than a friend, actually."

It was silent for a few seconds, until she looked back up and was met with a small smile, those perfect teeth on display, as Callie nodded, "I know."

Arizona's mouth dropped open, "What do you mean? I never said a word."

Still grinning slightly, she tapped her hand on the bar, "On the first day of class, when we were assigned to be partners, you left your notebook open on the desk. My name was written in a heart." Callie could still remember the way it looked; just another one of those strange memories that seemed to crop up at the slightest of provocations.

And she remembered that it was her full name. Calliope. Why she could picture the exact handwriting, she wouldn't be able to say. But it definitely might be worth looking into.

Arizona blushed furiously, even though it was something that happened _years_ ago, "Thank god you didn't say anything. I think my sixteen year old self might have fallen into a hole to the center of the earth." It was kind of strange knowing that, years later, what she thought was one of her best kept secrets had actually not been a secret at all. And, for some reason, it made her feel more like the confident person she'd become since then, "Did you tell your friends about it? About my sixteen-year-old crush on you?" she prompted.

Callie looked confused, "Uh, no."

Grinning, satisfied, she nodded her head with finality, "There you have it then: you were not a bitch. A teenage bitch definitely would have made fun of the geeky girl who had a crush on her with her friends."

Looking at the time, Callie pushed herself to stand, grabbing her purse and sliding it over her shoulder, "Well, my sixteen year old self was a little too freaked out that another girl was writing her name in hearts to do anything about it but pretend that it never happened," she leaned in, lowering her voice, "My twenty-five year old self, however, wouldn't be freaked out at all."

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! I appreciate all of the feedback on the first chapter, and I apologize for this one taking a little bit to get up; I was on vacation for the last few days. Thank you for reading!**


	3. The First Date Part I

_May 17_

Blue eyes were latched onto those impossibly full lips, while the hand that had been working to clean the bar just froze. The entire world felt like it froze, and Callie's words echoed in her head as the temperature rose just from the suggestive tone alone. She thought that there had to be some sort of special pure, raw magnetism that was in her genetic makeup, designed to make her react this strongly to Callie Torres.

Her twenty-five year old self wouldn't mind if another woman was interested in her. She kept her gaze latched on Callie's face, heart and libido racing with the possibilities that those words had just opened up.

Did that mean that she was gay or just more open-minded than she had been years ago? Did she mean Arizona specifically? Because the way those dark eyes were looking at her through those thick lashes that managed to freaking _flutter _without looking anything but sexy made her hands tighten into fists to fight the urge to cup her jaw and bring the lips she'd spent years wondering what kind of magic they would be able to work on her body to her own.

And if she actually _did_ that, then she would probably end up dragging Callie over the bar and taking her on the unswept floor. Then Alex would have gotten a show and the expensive tank top that had ruffles down the front would be ripped off, and it would just be a mess. Just thinking about it made her throat run dry… come to think of it, the only downside to that would be that Alex was there.

Oh, god, and there Callie was still waiting for some sort of response. Her brain was yelling at her to answer, but no words were coming out.

Callie felt like the world was frozen, as she watched emotions flit over Arizona's face, then her eyes finally came to settle on her lips, that were open as if about to speak. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually been the person to hit on someone else, but she also knew that she'd never been nervous about it before.

The people she'd always surrounded herself with weren't people like Arizona; weren't people who would actually want to hear her spill her heart out about the epiphanies she'd experienced that led her to where she was now. People who smiled a sunshine grin at her like they expected her to be anything more than a drunk party girl.

So, she would admit that she was just a little bit nervous. Maybe this woman liked her nearly ten years ago, but that didn't mean anything now.

But dear lord, she wished it did. She was most likely just experiencing the aftereffects of the combination of not having sex for so long, mixed with the fact that the longer she stared at Arizona the more she wondered how the hell someone could be such a mix of cuteness and sexiness. And she wondered how the hell it had taken her four freaking nights to talk to her.

And she found herself holding her breath as the blonde finally spoke:

"That's good."

That disappointment that welled up at those two words, like the hope she'd had; she might have been out of the game for a while, but she knew that with the line she'd thrown out, she'd given Arizona either the chance to reel her in or throw her back. And she was thrown back.

It wasn't like Arizona just didn't know how to navigate the flirting waters, either, because in her keen observations in the last few days, she'd seen the blonde charm the pants nearly right off of other women. Her not biting on Callie's bait really could just mean one thing: she wasn't interested.

Which just made her confused, because she had been sure that Arizona had been giving her that look. That kind of look where your eyes darkened just a little bit, and your breath hitched in a way that was barely noticeable. That look you give to someone you might want to hold against the wall and bury yourself in them until you couldn't see straight anymore. But maybe two years and four months out of the sex world took more of a toll than she'd thought.

Drawing back, she tapped her hand against the bar again, clearing her throat, managing a small smile, "Yeah, good. I, uh, guess I'll see you later then."

Eyebrows low on her forehead as she tried to figure out first how she could have read these signs so poorly and second how she was going to calm the longing her body seemed to have developed for Arizona starting on that first day, as she'd helped her pull those small glass shards out of her hands. It might have been crush-karma; Arizona had had a crush on her in high school that she had ignored and now – if these lusty feelings mixed with feelings of wanting to keep talking to the bar tender could be called a crush – hers was likewise unreciprocated.

Arizona watched Callie turn around after a slightly awkward wave and with every step she took in the direction of the door, her mouth was working, trying to find the _right_ words to say to stop her. And then she was gone, and a clattering sound made her jump. Turning, she saw Alex, who had just thrown the mop he'd been using to the floor, his face incredulous, "Are you kidding me? _Are you freaking kidding me?_ That was shameful. I'm disowning you."

Replaying the last minute in her mind's eyes, she shook her head, both disgusted and horrified at herself, "I'm disowning myself." Of it's own accord, her hand came up and slapped against her forehead, " "That's good"? "_That's good_"?! What am I, an idiot?" Squeezing her eyes tightly closed, she stared at the spot where the brunette had just been, "Did Callie Torres really just say that to me, in that tone of voice, and I said that's good?"

She sensed his movement as he came up behind her, draping his arm around her shoulders, his sigh heavy, "Dude. Yeah. She just invited you to hit on her and you fell right on your face."

She _had_ fallen right on her face. And now that Callie was gone, Arizona could think of a million things to say in response.

That had been the _perfect_ opening to ask her out. Even an incredibly simple response from Arizona could have sparked a better outcome. In her mind, she rewound the last few minutes, and she saw herself smiling, lifting an eyebrow and asking, "Oh, really?"

But instead, what had come out was "That's good."

_May 18_

Cell phone and scrap of paper in hand, Arizona hopped up into the kitchen counter, running her thumb over the numbers she'd hastily copied down before she'd left the bar last night. Because after that crushing feeling of her own idiocy had left her, she'd realized that last night wasn't a total failure.

Callie had opened up to her in the bar, and told her about herself, about her life, which kept her satisfied on one level, because she wanted to know about her. And on that other level, the one where her body reacted to Callie's like a south magnetic pole to a north one – Callie had opened the door. Arizona might have tried to walk through the doorway then tripped, but the door was still there.

Her fantasy woman had basically asked her to make a move. And she wasn't going to pass that up.

So she'd found Callie's order slip from her party earlier in the week and quickly copied her number down and slipped it into her pocket. With a deep breath, she quickly dialed the number, and just as she pressed the call button, the back door opened and she spun on her perch on the counter to see her brother and Alex enter the room. They'd been playing basketball on the driveway outside and instead of heading for the fridge like they were both going for, as soon as they saw her, phone pressed against her ear, they both gave her eerily matching wolfish grins.

Which made her smile even as her stomach flip-flopped. She shouldn't be nervous because Callie was the one who had thrown out the gauntlet – she would be receptive to Arizona's interest. But as she thought of asking out Callie made her nerves tingle in both anticipation and excitement.

Tim snatched up the slip of paper as she waited for Callie to answer, "Calliope Torres," he read, high-fiving Alex, "Called it. You got this, sis."

She _did_ have it. This wasn't high school. She wasn't calling Callie to get her bio notes – which she'd only done on rare occasions, even though her notes far surpassed the Latina's. She was a hot gay lady, calling up a fellow hot – smoking hot – gay lady to have dinner.

The fact that this one phone call was ten years in the making just made it feel that much heavier.

Her phone had rang twice before both her brother and Alex started to chant, "Ar-i-zo-na, Ar-i-zo-na, Ar-i-zo-na!" in increasing tempo. Then when Tim started to pound his hands against the counter next to her, she couldn't even hear her phone that was at full volume against her ear.

Narrowing her eyes, she hissed, "_Shut up_!"

And as soon as they did, it allowed her to hear the object of her affection's smoky voice ask, "Uh, hello? Did you just tell me to shut up?"

Gritting her teeth, she glared at the two men, "No! No, no, I was talking to my… dogs." What were the words that were leaving her mouth? She briefly took the phone away from her ear and banged it against her forehead for a second, slapping her hand over Tim's mouth before he barked, like she knew he was about to.

When she brought the receiver back to her ear, Callie's confusion was easy to hear, "Uh… okay."

Alex let out a "howl" and she kicked him sharply in the shin, before turning her attention back to the main objective. Objective get Callie to come over for dinner. She cleared her throat, "So, I think last night I started out strong and then I might have left you with… the wrong impression."

"What is the impression you want to leave on me?" she asked, and there was that tone again. Where her voice dipped, and Arizona didn't know if Callie purposefully did it or if it just happened, but it didn't matter because either way it was damn effective in making Arizona instantly imagine it calling out her name.

It was like Callie's superpower. Being drop dead sexy.

And so, so many images came to her mind, and the words "how about my body on yours" nearly slipped out of her mouth. Blushing at her thoughts, she shakes her head, "I just – I want you to know that –" that, what? That since the day Callie had stepped back into her bar three weeks ago, all of her nights had been spent in her bed, haunted by dreams practically identical of the ones she'd been plagued by throughout her adolescence of ripping off her clothes and having her? "That I, well," taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and said quietly, "I want to know if maybe you would like to have dinner with me, tonight."

There. The words were out and all she needed now –

She didn't even have to wait long enough to finish her thought before Callie answered, "Yes. Yes, I'd love to, absolutely,"

A smile stole over her face, relief washing over her as both Tim and Alex held up hands to be high-fived, which she responded to as a feeling of victory stole over her, "Awesome! If it's all right with you, I'd like to cook you something," she said, and both Tim and Alex gave her two thumbs up.

"Yeah, that sounds… great," the brunette said, and Arizona wasn't positive, but she felt like she could hear her smiling.

And there was that dip in her tone again, as she'd said "great" and Arizona involuntarily closed her eyes. She wanted to treat Callie like a lady. How was she supposed to treat her like a lady tonight when they were alone in her house if she made her voice all husky-toned, the way Arizona imagined it sounding when she woke up in the morning. Or after it had gotten hoarse from screaming the blonde's name.

Shaking herself out of it, she opened her eyes, "Yes. It is – great. I live at 31 Southwest 85th. It's only a block away from the bar."

Her face lit up in a grin when she heard Callie whisper to someone, "Quick, I need your pen." And she repeated the address back, "So, 31 Southwest 85th. What time?"

Rolling her eyes toward the clock above the stove, she bit her lip, "How about seven?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, both her brother and Alex were shaking their heads, and she held her hand over the speaker, "What?"

It was Tim who answered, looking at her like she was stupid, "Seven? What, are you going to have her home and tucked in by nine? Give her a kiss on the back of the hand after?"

A feeling of urgency was rising inside of her as she heard Callie say, "Sure. Seven sounds good."

Making sure her hand was still firmly over the phone she shook her head, "Well, I asked her over for dinner not a booty call. What the hell time do you think I should have asked?"

"At least eight!" Alex answered for her, just as Callie asked, "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes! Still here, sorry. These dogs are just really acting up," sick of the guy's input, she used her hand to spin her to face the other way, "So, I'll see you at seven?"

Her voice sounded hopeful and excited to her own ears and, damn it, she didn't even care.

"I'll be there," there was a slight hesitation, before Callie asked, "Um. This is Arizona, right?"

Pulling her knees up, she banged her head against them, mumbling, "Of course I forgot to tell you it was me," before clearing her throat, "But yeah, it's me. Arizona. I got your number from when you came into the bar a few weeks ago, I wasn't like… stalking you, or anything –"

Immediately, her brother's hand clapped over her mouth and he emitted a loud succession of barks, as Callie's laugh sounded low in her ear, "That's good to know, but I wasn't worried. Besides, maybe being stalked by you wouldn't be so bad. It might be worse for you, really, because you'd have to see me wake up in the morning. It's not a pretty sight."

Gripping Tim's hand that was still tight over her mouth, she peeled it off, the vision of waking Callie up by planting slow wet kisses down her abdomen as they were tangled in her sheets taking clouding her mind, "I'm positive it's a fabulous sight."

If it was half as good as the one in her head was, it was positively picturesque.

She was convinced that whatever was going to come out of Callie's mouth following the low "hmm" sound was going to be utterly awesome. This was much more the type of conversation she was used to having with women… and then someone said something that she couldn't hear in the background and instead, her hearing was filled with a heavy sigh, "I have to go. But I'll see you in a few hours."

"Super! Bye," as soon as the word left her mouth, the phone was yanked from her hands and slid farther down the counter, as Alex's hands grabbed her hips and turned her to look at the awaiting faces of the men in her life.

Her best friend lifted both of his eyebrows, "Well? The final verdict?"

She didn't think the smile on her face could get any bigger, "Dinner tonight at _seven_. And we talked about what she looks like in bed in the morning."

Tim slid her forward, ducking and bracing his shoulder against the countertop and hauling her over it before standing, her still slung over his shoulder, "Sing it with me! Weeee are the champions my frieeeends!"

Alex joined in with him and even though she half-heartedly hit at her brother's back and flipped Alex off, she couldn't help but laugh. Even though she was certain she was headed for a "celebratory" toss into the pool – which her brother did to her every time he managed to pick her up like this – she couldn't find it in her to be mad or annoyed.

Because she had a freaking date with Callie Torres.

* * *

Callie sat in her parked car, both of her hands braced on the steering wheel, as she sat outside of Arizona's house. Her entire day had been spent with her mother, sister, and Susan and Jill Wheaton, who were a mother and daughter pair that her family had known forever. Susan worked with her mom, and Jill was her extremely vapid, shallow daughter. Even Aria, who played fast and loose with the crowd she hung out with, couldn't stand her.

She'd gotten the call from a mystery number when they were out to lunch, and despite knowing that it was extremely bad manners, she had answered it anyway. Besides, her mom and Susan were deep in conversation and both Jill and Aria were texting under the table.

It was with surprised excitement that she'd realized it was Arizona on the line. Arizona, who was asking her out. To her house. As Callie couldn't let herself forget, she hadn't been involved with anyone in a _long_ twenty-eight months. But she did remember that home dates she'd gone on in the past were sex dates.

And a first date sex date wasn't something she'd been on for even longer than she'd been without sex. Sex pre-Peace Corps days had come in two ways – either she picked someone up in a club and it was a one night quick fuck or she expected someone who wanted her to work a little first.

But. She really wasn't complaining in the least. Because Arizona was sweet and sexidorable. And she had legs to kill for. Specifically her thighs. Callie, for four nights, had spent multiple hours watching the blonde work the bar in her cutoff shorts that hugged those lightly tanned thighs that she knew would be silky soft to the touch. Thighs that looked like they would clamp around her wrist or her head so firmly as she made Arizona feel every last ounce of pleasure from her slim, tight body.

Letting out a shuddering breath, she shook her head and got out of the car. Then again, it was entirely possible that Arizona, if she was as nice as Callie remembered – and all signs thus far pointed to yes – didn't intend on this being a sex date.

Frowning, Callie glanced down at her dress as she made her way up the walkway, what if Arizona hadn't really intended this to be a date at all? Because those words hadn't exactly been said when they'd spoken. It was possible that Arizona felt… fuck, she didn't know. Maybe her disappointment had been sensed and Arizona felt bad?

Well, the black dress she was wearing didn't really scream pity-dinner; it screamed I'm yours for the taking. And because she really wanted to be taken, she was here almost ten minutes early.

Ringing the doorbell, it was barely three seconds later before she heard Arizona call out, "I'm coming!"

God, she wanted to hear those words in a different context.

Shaking her head to clear it of the images – those damn thighs – the door swung open to reveal Arizona. And her jaw dropped, because if she'd thought the blonde was gorgeous in the last few days while wearing her everyday clothes, she had been completely unprepared to see her like this. In a blue dress that outlined her breasts and hips perfectly, revealing just a hint of her utterly delicious cleavage.

How had she not noticed her boobs before? Well, she'd noticed them the past few nights, and she'd noticed that they looked like they might fit perfectly in her palms. But noticed them as in she kind of really wanted to bury her face between them.

Twenty-eight months was such a long time. And Arizona was such a fucking hot woman.

Forcing her eyes to lift up – she refused to let them dip to check out how this dress hugged those thighs because she was sure that she might actually drool – she made eye contact with those blue eyes that seemed even bluer right now, with a hint of eye shadow above them. And that bright smile was shining at her in a way that told her she'd clearly been caught checked her out.

She wasn't even sorry. Unless… "This is a date, right?"

Inwardly, she cringed at herself. _Real smooth, Torres. Real smooth_. And then Arizona nodded quickly, "Yeah. Yes," those eyes closed as a laugh drifted from pink lips, "I know it might be hard for you to believe, but I'm usually a lot better than this, with women."

She shook her head, "No, it's really not hard for me to imagine. I've seen you at the bar." Women flocked to the blonde. And she knew just what to say to them. But she didn't see any of _them_ currently on a date, "I'll take your sometimes tongue-tied-ness as a compliment."

"So you should," Arizona stepped back, opening the door for her to walk through, "Welcome to Casa de Robbins."

Callie walked by, purposefully walking close enough to just able to feel her body heat and to catch a scent of her. It wasn't perfume so much as a combination of her shampoo and body wash and just something else that was now just… Arizona. Then, as the door shut behind her and she walked a little farther, she could smell actual food cooking.

So it was a real date and not just a sex date. She wondered if it was appropriate to be both happy – because Arizona was still sweet and wanting to make her dinner as a first date – and frustrated because of that whole thing where it had been almost two and a half years since she'd been touched by another person.

But, much like her sometimes tongue-tied-ness, she was going to take the fact that Arizona was actually cooking for her as a compliment. Besides, they should work on building up a rapport and a friendship and whatnot first, before sex. Because Arizona seemed like she was that kind of girl, and that was what adults who weren't bitchy party girls did.

But she would be damned if her body wasn't yelling at her to have a sex date with the gorgeous blonde with thighs that looked strong and silky smooth and eyes that Callie wanted to know if they would darken to a midnight blue shade or a navy. Sex first and rapport later.

Callie walked farther into the house, slightly down the hallway, looking up on the walls at the pictures of her and Tim and their parents, and Arizona mentally kicked herself and told herself to walk behind her instead of just staring at her spectacular ass. A truly, world-class butt that was just calling out to her, begging for attention.

She could vividly remember high school Arizona's fantasies about that butt. And she remembered being incredibly grateful that she and Callie had gym class together. She'd always made sure to not be that gay girl who perved on other girls in the locker room… however… she might have snuck looks at the beautiful brunette once or twice.

A class.

It had been too difficult to not peek, and her sixteen-year-old self didn't have really great self-control. But she did now, and she made her eyes lift, trailing up her back until she reached the caramel shoulder blades revealed by the dress, where her eyes latched on again. She could just see herself scraping her teeth against them, Callie writhing on her hands and knees, as her hand pumped –

Dinner. They were going to have a nice dinner. Just a dinner, because Callie Torres wasn't the kind of girl she could just fuck and forget; she was the kind of girl Arizona wanted to sweep off her feet. The kind of girl Arizona would want to stay for the night and then make her waffles in the morning.

Or pancakes. Or freaking French toast – damn it, the entire kitchen, she would make it for her. Because that ass, those boobs, those legs… god, Arizona shuddered. Mountains would be moved for that body alone. When you added on the face with those wide, dark eyes and that luscious mouth…

Dinner. Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, her mind sang to her. And that meant dinner as in food and not Callie. Blushing and slightly salivating at her own thoughts, she walked up next to where Callie was standing, looking up at the arrangement of pictures that had been on the wall for years, purposefully teasing herself by letting their bare arms rub against each others.

Callie closed her eyes, telling her overheated body and brain to just take a break. A mental cold shower. The reopened when Arizona said, "My mom came up with this whole picture arrangement, and took most of them, too. She was a photographer. Mostly for fun, but she was really great."

Looking up at them, she nodded. The photo arrangement was almost like a piece of art itself, the way the different frames came together in designs, meshing. Some of them were nature shots, blended in with different ones of Arizona and Tim and people she would assume as their parents and sporadic other family members.

Then her eyes landed on one of the blonde, full on glasses and braces, her hair a little wild… and it clicked. Pointing at it, she grinned, "This is your senior picture! From our yearbook."

Arizona's groan got her attention, and she turned to see her date furiously blushing, shaking her head, "I wear things like this dress in an effort to make you not think about _that_."

Lifting her hand, she skimmed her finger down the soft, red-tinged cheek, "Well, as much as I like that dress, you were still cute in high school."

Eyebrow raised, the blonde stared at her, "Yeah, because glasses and braces are such a turn on."

She shrugged, turning away from the pictures to face her, "Well, I don't really think adult braces are a great look for anyone, so if you had those now, it might be a little touch and go. But glasses, you could definitely pull them off."

In fact, Callie wondered if there was a possibility of seeing Arizona in them. While her mind took off with the possibilities if _that_, she raked her eyes down the blonde's body, just once more before they had dinner. Then, as they ran all the way down her legs and she couldn't stop a laugh when she got to the feet. The bare feet that just did not match that knock-out dress. And yet in the off-beat kind of way that Arizona seemed to emit, they did match, "You're not wearing any shoes."

Those feet rocked back and forth, toes tapping lightly on the floor as Arizona shook her head, "You came early! I didn't have time to run upstairs and put my heels on. They were going to be a good pair, too," the blonde informed her, "They really make my butt pop," she explained with a small sigh.

And while Arizona was clearly disappointed with the fact that she didn't have the opportunity to put on those heels, Callie was kind of glad. Because she was sure that if she'd had to look at Arizona's butt as it had "popped" even more than that dress already made it look like it was, _she_ was going to pop.

The thought made her chuckle, even as the heat shot through her.

Those sky eyes narrowed, "Hey, my butt has the potential to blow you away. I mean, it might not be _yours_ but, then again what is? I –"

Callie really enjoyed that Arizona ramble. That reminded her of the girl in science class, even if some other things might have changed. And she liked that girl, with the sweetness and the brains and that personality that made her easy to talk to. She'd already shared more with her since she'd been back than she had with anyone else, so… what the hell. As much as she enjoyed that Arizona ramble, she cut her off.

"I'm not laughing at your butt potential; I'm laughing because you really do have a spectacular butt. I spent four days in the Just Cause watching you, you think I haven't noticed? Anyway," her eyes falling to those pouty pink lips and she wondered if she licked her own or if that was in her head, "I was just thinking that I'm, uh, glad that you didn't wear your heels because… fuck it," shaking her head, she moved her eyes back up Arizona's face, latching onto those eyes, "It's been a while since I've had sex. And I'm kind of – kind of _really_… horny," she settled on that word because it really described her perfectly right now.

She didn't want the kind of sex the people that lived in the life that Aria lived in had – that meticulously well planned and thought out, step by step sex she remembered having. She wanted the kind of sex that was raw and primal. The kind that people had after leaving the Just Cause together. The kind that she imagined Arizona had.

And then the fact that she had just fucking said that to her _date_ – who, while admittedly they did have a strange little old friendship/friendly thing going on, was still someone who was probably trying to have a nice first date with her – set in, and she just… stared.

Arizona felt her breath hitch in her throat, and she was pretty sure she was wetter than a lake because holy god damn, she challenged anyone to remain somewhat unaffected when Callie Torres said she was horny while on a date with them wearing that dress with her voice hitting that low octave and her eyes practically giving away her desire.

Before she could speak, she had to clear her throat. Twice. "I… uh. Same for me. It's been a while. And I'm extremely…" wet. Aroused. Needy, "Horny."

Callie's eyebrow lifted, "I bet I have you beat."

"It's been a little over two months," but it's been much, much longer since her body yearned for Callie's.

The brunette's laugh started out low, then grew, until she was holding her sides, "Oh, Arizona… twenty-eight months."

Her eyes widened in incredulous surprise, "That's over two years."

No one had touched that magnificent body in over two years. No one had kissed those lips. Two years was a long time. And she desperately wanted – needed – it to be her. Callie's tongue flicked out, over her lips, and Arizona felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room as the Latina nodded, "Believe me, I know. It's just – I was in the Peace Corps for twenty-seven months. And I really didn't have anyone in Botswana. And I've been back for a month, and… no one I know really interests me. Except, there's this one woman…"

Arizona's hands tightened into fists at her sides, "Oh, yeah?"

"Mhmm," the sound was hardly a whisper leaving Callie's lips as she inched in closer, and Arizona could both feel and hear her heart thundering in her chest, the blood pounding in her head while rushing to a completely different part of her anatomy.

Dinner. Fuck dinner; she would have Callie for dinner.

She'd wanted this for _so_ long. This kiss was something she'd been waiting for since before she'd had her first kiss. As her hands reached out, finding purchase on those hips, she couldn't stop herself from moving them up and down in a light caress, just to feel. God, she felt so good.

Tipping her head up, keeping her eyes open, she pushed up to her tip toes, just a bit. And Callie's face was so close to hers, she could feel her breath on her lips.

And then the door ten feet behind them crashed open and the ghosting of the warmth of Callie's hands that she'd right over the skin of her jaw dropped, but her own hands flexed on those hips, just once before both of their heads turned to face the reason behind the disruption.

The disappointment Callie was feeling inside of her was really only tempered by the utter confusion she was having due to the face that Tim and Alex were standing with giant smiles on their faces, while soaking wet, dripping on the hardwood floor in the foyer that she was just about to kiss the blonde on.

Arizona, along with her own sense of confused disappointed, was also really, really pissed, "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

Tim explained, "A water main burst at the bar. It was crazy. Don't worry, we already called the plumber and we managed to get it to stop looking like a torrential downpour. But we had to close down for the night."

Alex, however, was just giving the two of them a shit-eating grin, "And what do we have here?"

Closing her eyes tightly – honestly, she'd been so close – she put her hands on her hips, "Callie, these are my dogs. I'm thinking about bringing them to the pound as soon as possible."

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! I really enjoy everyone's feedback so far. Also, this story miiiight turn out to be a few chapters longer than planned. Thank you for reading!**


	4. First Date Part II

_May 18_

Callie's heart was still racing in her chest and her hips still felt the heat from Arizona's hands and the sparks that her touch had set all over her body through the thin fabric of her tight dress, even as she managed a smile, "These are your dogs?"

While on the phone earlier, she'd sensed that there weren't really any real canines nipping at Arizona's heels, but having her date introduce Tim and Alex to her as such made her laugh, which only increased as Alex released a howl and Tim a series of low barks, while they both wore the same knowing grins.

The knowing grins that made her feel like they had known exactly what she wanted to do to Arizona right before they walked in. Which included pushing the blonde back against the wall right next to all of those pictures, and running her hand up that smooth thigh, before sliding underneath and pulling her leg up to wrap around her waist –

She swallowed hard, trying to move the image from her mind as she smoothed her hands down her sides, which were still tingling from Arizona's touch. All right, she really needed to take a breath of fresh air and step away from Arizona's flushed and blushing face, "I can go grab you some towels?" she offered, watching as more and more water dripped onto the foyer, forming puddles underneath the guys.

Arizona gave her a tight smile, "Thanks. Uh, they're down the hall and to the right in the linen closet."

Blue eyes followed Callie's form as she walked down the hall, waiting until she disappeared around the corner before she turned back to face her brother and Alex, lifting both of her hands to slap them on the shoulders, "You – assholes – I – was – so – close!"

Alex was the first one to reach out and grab her by the wrists, "Calm down, tiger. We didn't think you were going to make a move as soon as your girl walked in the door! Damn, Z."

Tim was grimacing and rubbing at the spot where she'd repeatedly whacked him, "I didn't really want to walk in and see my little sister making sex eyes at her date. Though I do have to say, those were some really smooth moves you must have pulled. Up top," he held up his hand, waiting for her to reciprocate his high-five.

But she wasn't going to and she wasn't smiling back. She couldn't, when she could still feel Callie's warm breath washing over her lips; they hadn't even made contact but the feeling was already committed to memory. Those lips, painted such an inviting shade of red, just inches from her own. Damn.

She brought up her hand like she was going in for a high-five and instead grabbed his wrist and used her other one to swat at him again, "You two both obviously knew Callie was going to be here, regardless of whether or not you knew what we would be… doing," or not doing, "So why didn't you just find something else to do?"

Alex held up both hands in order to avoid getting hit again, "We were just going to come home and change into dry clothes before we were going to work on the boat in the garage! It's barely seven, we didn't even know if she was going to be here yet. And if she was, we assumed you two were going to be having dinner."

Callie's heels clicked on the floor, signaling her return, and Arizona quickly looked over her shoulder before shaking her head and leaning in, "Fine, go change. But under no circumstances come anywhere near to the kitchen."

Her brother and Alex accepted the towels Callie gave them as she returned, and both made over exaggerated movements of deliberately turning toward to go up the stairs, and she turned back to face Callie, "I'm, um, sorry about that, they were supposed to be at the bar tonight –"

She was cut off by Tim's voice as he called from the top of the steps, "And do I need to remind you of house rules? No sex in the foyer! Remember the last time!"

Callie lifted her eyebrows in question as a scarlet blush made it's presence clearly known, spreading up the blonde's neck and the tips of her ears, "The last time?"

God, she really did love how Arizona blushed. She never thought it would be something that she enjoyed, but she found it adorable and endearing, as Arizona shook her head, "It's not – I mean, there was this one time that I brought a woman home and we – against the door – and Tim was…" she trailed off, pointing through the doorway into the living room, only feet away from the front door, where she presumed Arizona had once had sex with a woman.

And couldn't help but laugh and she didn't stop her hands from reaching up, flicking lightly over the bright red earlobes, finding them ridiculously cute and such an oddly appealing combo on the ridiculously hot woman, grinning, "So, you're just trying to pick me up using moves you've used on another lady?"

"What? No!" Arizona took a deep breath, reminding herself to murder her brother sometime in the near future, as she looked up, meeting Callie's eyes, "I didn't invite you here tonight for sex. I mean, I _want_ that – I really, really do – but it's not… I like you. And I want to get to know you, not just as the girl from high school but you, now." It wasn't until then that she noticed Callie's smile, and she playfully glared, "And besides… you were the initiator. How would you expect me to react when you tell me you're horny?"

God. She could replay that moment in her head, and just hearing the Latina say that lone word made her… squeezing her eyes closed, she barely held back a shudder.

"It's probably a good thing they came when they did," Callie admitted, though making sure her voice was low to protect against any ears that might overhear them, "I mean, we didn't even get to dinner yet and I was feeling ready to take you. Even though it would have broken house rules," she finished with a sly grin.

Which was also masking the fact that she had the insane urge to press Arizona against the door and replace the memory the blonde had of whatever woman who had apparently been with her to cause the no sex in the foyer rule. Closing her eyes tightly, she shook her head and ordered herself to get her depraved libido in check. This was a first freaking date.

A first freaking date with a hot blonde who she'd been _this_ close to kissing moments after walking through the front door. _Pull yourself together, woman! You are not that desperate!_

Arizona's voice made her reopen her eyes, "So… dinner, then?"

And she was biting her bottom lip, with those cerulean eyes looking up at her, and Callie nodded, "Yes. I'm actually starving."

And she was, because the lunch she'd been having when Arizona had called to ask her out was cut short due to her own thoughts distracting her: what was she going to wear? Should she dress up or down? It was a house date, so did that mean more casual? And this all just made her in more of a hurry to get back home to prepare.

After she'd decided to just do what she wanted to do and go less casual and more sexy, showered, done her hair and makeup, it was nearly time to leave. And food would probably be a good distraction for her over active imagination.

Arizona led the way to the kitchen, enjoying just the feeling of Callie's body walking so close behind her that she could feel her body heat. It was like they'd just turned down from a boil to a simmer, and it was a nice feeling. Because Callie was right; as much as she felt that knee-jerk reaction to being frustrated at her brother and Alex's seemingly untimely return, it was a good thing that they showed up when they did.

Because while she really did want to taste those lips hovered above hers minutes ago, there was no telling if a kiss would have been all it was. And she'd wanted this, wanted a chance with Callie, for so long that while she was overjoyed with the fact that they had been up to a boil so quickly, she didn't want it to boil over and be done with in just one night.

So, a simmer was good, for now. She didn't know how long she or Callie would be able to stay there… but for now, it was a good place to be. In her mind, she saw the rest of the evening unfolding as follows: she would wow Callie with the chicken and vegetables she'd taken off the grill on the back patio just as Callie had rang the doorbell. Somehow, she would try to keep her blushing to a minimum over dinner conversation.

And at the very end of all of that, she envisioned maybe a short but sweet brushing of her lips over the soft skin of one of those tanned cheeks.

Such a slow simmer, but it had to be worth the wait. She wanted to blow Callie's mind. A nice dress, a nice dinner, a nice evening.

Abruptly, she came to a halt, stumbling forward just a bit as Callie bumped into her, as her eyes scanned the countertops. The plate she'd put on the edge of her counter in a rush to answer the door was still there.

Chicken less. Vegetable less.

As in, the meal she'd prepared and cooked was gone.

"You've got to be kidding me," the words left her in a rushed whisper, frustration welling up inside of her because this night was her first date with Callie Torres and instead of blowing her mind, they were getting interrupted by Alex and Tim and having their dinner stolen.

She didn't even notice until now, belatedly, that Callie's hands had come to land on her hips, steadying her as she had stumbled forward. The Latina's voice was confused as she asked, "What? What's going on?"

Blue eyes closed tightly and she shook her head, "The universe is against me."

The universe was against Arizona Robbins trying to have a romantic night that went off without a hitch with Callie Torres. That was really all there was to explain it.

Sighing, it was with regret that she brought her hands up to cover Callie's and removed them from herself so she could turn to face her, "All right, it's not the universe. It's just my living situation." Gesturing to the now empty plate, she explained, "The food. Our dinner food… is gone."

Dark eyes followed to where she was pointing and Arizona let out a deep sigh, as Callie lifted an eyebrow, "Did your "dogs" manage to sneak in past us and steal it?" she kept her voice light and teasing, because she could see how frazzled this was making her date.

Then she watched as a slow smile spread over Arizona's face, a giggle spilling out from her mouth, "Well, as a matter of fact…" Then Callie cringed as the blonde let out an unexpected whistle that pierced the air, followed by her calling, "Max!"

Callie barely had time to question her as it was almost immediately that they were greeted with the sound of paws connecting with the floor, and then a fully grown German Shepard appeared from around the corner, his head hanging low, as if he knew he was in trouble by the tone of Arizona's voice.

Arizona rested her hand on the back of the dog's head, "Callie, this is Max… our actual dog. Who doesn't bark or howl unless he has good reason. But he's a pig." Blue eyes looked between the dog, who looked up at the sound of his name, and Callie, "Max, this is Callie. The beautiful woman who's dinner you just ate."

She felt herself smiling at them, reaching out her hand to scratch behind Max's ear, "I forgive you, Max."

The way Arizona's eyes narrowed at her dog was adorably comical, as she huffed out, "Well, I don't." Taking in a deep breath, she drew her other hand through her hair, "I'm sorry, Callie. I wanted this date to go perfectly. But… it obviously isn't. Honestly, this dress?"

Callie raked her eyes down the form fitting, thigh revealing blue dress, for what felt like the hundredth time in ten minutes, nodding along with her words.

"This dress isn't something I normally wear for a first date. I break it out on special occasions. And cooking for a lady isn't usually a first date thing for me, either. I like lower-key to start; I like building up to this dress. I like… getting pizza at the place right on the edge of the beach and walking in the sand, barefoot, right on the waterline where the waves wash up. That's a first date to me," she finished quietly, her hands tangling together in front of her, as she continued to leisurely stroke her hand over the top of Max's head, before continuing, "And maybe Tim and Alex showing up because of a water main break at the bar and Max eating our food are all just signs that this isn't the right first date."

There was that feeling of extreme disappointment, the same ones that Callie had felt last night at the bar when Arizona had neglected to hit on her after she'd opened the door. Because she wasn't positive, but this sounded and felt like she was being… well, not broken up with, but rejected again.

And she'd been so, so looking forward to opening the door to explore having a _thing_ with Arizona.

"But, you – like me, right?" Her voice sounded insecure to her own ears, even as she knew her question was kind of stupid. She just needed to be reassured of it, because the way Arizona was sounding right now, despite their almost kiss merely minutes ago, made her feel otherwise.

The way Arizona's eyebrows arched up at her like she was crazy was nearly reassuring enough before the blonde answered, "Yes! And I don't want to make a fool of myself again like I did last night, which is why I was trying to put everything together perfectly."

A little pout came up on those lips as Arizona finished, the word perfectly being muttered with a shake of her head.

That was all Callie needed. Feeling empowered by what Arizona had said, she leaned forward to grab the empty plate that had caused the blonde to enter into this state, and she looked around for a few seconds before spotting the sink, slipping the plate into it.

"Then, let's go to the beach and get pizza and take a walk in the water. As much as I know I would've enjoyed the date you had planned, I want to experience the real Arizona Robbins first date. Maybe we'll work our way up to your homemade dinner house date…" she waited until those eyes looked up at her in surprise before she winked, "But you're keeping on the dress."

A returning smile graced Arizona's features, "Well, I guess it's only fair for me to wear mine if you're wearing yours."

"Well, I don't plan on walking around the public beach naked," she teased, tilting her head back down the hallway toward the door she felt like she just entered, "Do you want to drive or walk?"

"Walk," she decided, "It's only two blocks away and it's a gorgeous night out. Not too humid." As soon as she took a step forward, Max did, too, staying at her side, and she looked down at him, holding up a finger, "Nope, no walk on the beach for you tonight, mister. Maybe next time you'll think about that before you eat our human food."

Less than twenty minutes later, they found themselves at their destination. As they were in Arizona's neighborhood, and Callie had only been here very rarely, the blonde led the way as they walked to the pizza place that she spoke about, going up to the window they had facing out to the beach and putting in their order for a few slices of cheese pizza.

Her stomach rumbled in hunger as she went to pay, only to have Arizona put her hand over hers to stop her, "No, it's my treat. It's an Arizona Robbins first date!"

Grinning, she shrugged, "Then I'll get the next one."

"The next one, hmm?" Arizona asked, handing her a plate with the pizza on it.

They made their way to a nearby bench, and after the first bite, Callie's eyes nearly rolled back in her head, her body thanking her for the sustenance, "This is amazing." She waited until Arizona sat down first before she sat next to her, deliberately close enough for their arms to brush. After a few bites, she asked, "So, how come you didn't plan something like this right off the bat, if this is the Arizona Robbins first date?"

The blonde shrugged, blue eyes focused on the slice of pizza in her hand, "I don't… because you're Callie Torres. You're a triple P girl and I'm… not."

Confused, she lifted an eyebrow, "A triple P girl?"

"Uh, that was what me and Alex called pretty, popular, privileged girls in high school," she explained in a small voice, another one of those blushes making itself known across her cheeks, "And pretty, popular, privileged girls don't often go on dates for slices of beach pizza and walks on the beach, right?"

She shrugged, looking out at the waves crashing up onto shore in the distance, "I mean, I've never had someone take me out to pizza and for a walk on the beach for a date, no. And I might not have enjoyed this… before. But if I wanted to go out on dates that I liked before, I would have gone out with the same type of people I was dating before I went to Botswana."

Arizona sent her a smile, "But you're not on a date with any of them."

Chuckling, she nudged their shoulders together, "Nope."

As they ate, the blonde asked, "So, I feel like I can understand why you don't want to hang out with the people in your old life, anymore. But why _my_ bar?"

Finishing up, they stood and threw out their garbage before slipping off their shoes to walk onto the sand as she tried to explain, "The first night, I liked the feel to it. You, Tim, and Alex, you're a family. And it feels like that comfortable feeling inside."

She'd learned in her nights there that Arizona's dad was the one who had opened the bar, and had names it The Just Cause after the Just Cause Operation in Panema, which was the last action he'd served in while in the marines. Which was also why, when his old favorite song came on the jukebox in the bar, the patrons proclaimed, "Oorah!" in a marine shout, and took a shot.

Then she turned her head to look at the blonde, whose eyes seemed to look even lighter blue as the beach was nearly completely dark around them, "And then you were there, and from the beginning of the month, I just… liked the way you looked at me. Like you weren't looking at me to be whatever everyone else I knew from before the Peace Corps was looking at me. In my experience, when a beautiful woman gives you looks the way you looked at me, you don't just stay away from that."

Arizona sighed overdrmatically, tipping her head back to look at the sky, "If only you thought that way in high school."

Laughing, she lightly kicked her foot, splashing Arizona and sending droplets of water sprinkling up her calves, "If I thought that way in high school, I probably would have lied to myself about it for a while."

She stopped short watching as Arizona bent down to pick up a shell, a small one that she closed into her hand, the same one that was holding the flip flops she'd slipped on before they'd left her house. And then she stood back up to continue on as if she didn't just stop to pick up the small shell, as she tilted her head back up to the sky.

Callie followed suit, and her eyes widened, "Wow. The sky looks so clear tonight. No clouds or anything, just stars."

Arizona's smooth shoulder rubbed against hers, as neither of them was really walking in a straight line as they continued to walk, the spray of the ocean as waves broke and washed ashore reaching their ankles, "I know. It's gorgeous."

A soft smile played on the blonde's features as she stared upwards, and Callie vaguely remembered something slightly hazy in her memories… "You used to know the constellations, right? I think I remember you telling me about them in science."

Surprised, Arizona's eyes widened as she looked back at her, "Yeah, I – huh, I never really thought you were listening to a lot of what I said in high school; you used to say I was a dork. But not only did I know them, then; I still do."

Callie felt Arizona's hand lightly land on top of hers, grasping lightly to pull it up as she made them stop walking. The blonde lifted their hands, and one look out of the corner of her eye revealed that Arizona was standing with one eye closed, her tongue slightly peeking out of the corner of her mouth. Absolutely adorable.

She looked back up at the sky, closing her eye the way Arizona was, and following her movements, as she first connected a few small lines of stars, "That's the coma berenices. It represents the beautiful hair of Queen Berenice of Egypt. She was so concerned for the safety of her husband Ptolemy III when he went off to war, that she vowed to cut off her glorious long hair as a sacrifice to Venus, should he be spared. When he eventually returned safely home, she kept her promise, and Zeus placed her beautiful hair in the heavens to shine among the stars."

She turned back to smile at Callie, and Callie was sure she was beaming back as she adjusted their hands so that their fingers tangled together, "You're still such a dork. However, I can much better appreciate it now."

Because who wouldn't appreciate a gorgeous woman explaining constellations to her as they walked along the beach at night? As Arizona's hand tightened around hers, she encouraged, "Tell me more."

And the way Arizona's eyes lit up was freaking charming at all hell, as she moved from Callie's face, back up to the sky.

It wasn't until hours later that they made their way back up Arizona's street. Their walk back was slow, and Callie admitted that she was going even slower than usual because while this date might not have been what Arizona had planned, it had far surpassed any expectations that Callie had had for the night. And her expectations hadn't exactly been _low_. She'd expected Arizona to be mouth-wateringly hot, she'd expected to eat, she'd expected to laugh, she'd expected to enjoy her company.

And Arizona had been all of those things and more.

She was reluctant to bring their night to an end, but it shocked her to look at the time on her phone and realize that it was almost eleven, and she had volunteered to help her mother plan her next dinner party, in penance for skipping out on "her" yacht party earlier in the week. And that planning meant meeting with the florist bright and early the next day.

Their hands were still hanging between them, fingers lightly intertwined, swinging lightly. It was an easy touch, a simple one, the same one that had started on the beach hours ago, as Arizona had pointed out the constellations to her.

The blonde's neighborhood was quiet, mostly all of the lights flicked off in every window that they passed, though they could faintly hear music that got louder and louder until they reached Arizona's house again. The tidy two story still had several lights on inside, and the garage door was open. If Callie squinted in the small distance in the dark to see just past the garage, she could see a sailboat, and Arizona followed her gaze, "Oh, that's Tim and Alex's most recent venture. They bought that boat a few months ago, and it barely looked like it would stay afloat in the water. They've been fixing it up. It's their hobby."

They were certainly doing a good job, Callie could see that from here, "Is that them playing the music?"

Arizona nodded, giggling a little bit, "Yep. You should hear them when they're using the power saw at night… our neighbors really don't enjoy us. But we own a bar! Night time is our thing."

Turning away from the boat and garage, she leaned her back against her car, "So, if Tim and Alex like to fix up boats when they're not working at the bar, what do you like to do? Besides charm women and have sex in the foyer?"

She wished like hell she could see the inevitable blush that brought to Arizona's cheeks, even as blue eyes narrowed, and her mouth fell open in mock offense, "Callie Torres, you better watch yourself. And I can't just tell you what I like to do in my free time on the very first date. A girl has to have some mystery."

Callie just raised an eyebrow and Arizona laughed, "All right, so we both know I'm not really a mystery."

The fact that Arizona wasn't a mystery and that she just was who and what she was, was something that Callie really liked about her, "Well, I guess it's a really good thing that I'm not looking for a mystery to solve, now am I?"

Arizona opened her mouth to respond, and Callie found herself waiting for the next flirtatious words that were going to come out, "I'm thinking that I might have just what you're looking for." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper as she started to lean in, her body coming in just to _barely_ brush against Callie's making goose bumps ride on her skin and her head started to thud in her chest, just like it had earlier.

When Alex's voice called out, "Z, is that you down there? Can you come here and help us out real quick?" His voice quieted down as he walked closer, and both she and Arizona looked up at him.

Arizona was glaring, but Callie managed a small smile, "Hi again."

Alex reached a hand up, scratching the back of his neck, "Oh, I didn't realize you were still – all right, take your time."

She was pretty sure the man thought that she either couldn't see or wasn't paying attention as he winked at Arizona. Who just shook her head, letting out a disappointed sigh before leaning back, "I guess I should let you go."

Disappointment indeed. She'd really been looking forward to that goodnight kiss; her body was practically begging for it. Well, her body was begging for a lot more, but the kiss was first on the list. "All right, yeah. I do have an early morning; some of us aren't nighttime functioning bar owners," she joked.

Arizona's hand disconnected from hers, leaving her with just a swipe over the back of her hand with her thumb, "Goodnight, Callie."

"Goodnight, Arizona," she responded, even though everything in her was just screaming at her to grab that hand back and pull Arizona into her, crashing down her lips to connect with those pink ones.

Instead, she watched as Arizona slowly started to make her way up her driveway, toward that boat. And she only let her eyes fall to watch those thighs for just a second before she shook her head; maybe on the second date.

Reaching down, she fumbled through her keys for a second, unlocking her car door and sliding into the driver's seat. Just as she turned it in the ignition, she jumped as there was a knock on her window.

Grinning, she saw Arizona outside, her knuckles tapping on the glass as she rolled it down, "Yes?"

That hand reached inside, past Callie, to place the seashell Arizona had plucked from the sand in the beginning of their walk and placed it on the console, "You forgot this." After the blonde took her hand away from the shell, she skimmed it along Callie's jaw, "You forgot this, too."

The soft fingers that had just been brushing against her skin firmly turned her head, her lips immediately meeting Arizona's. The blonde's lips were incredibly soft against hers, and the perfect mix of pliant and demanding as they stayed in that same light lip lock for seconds, the closed mouth contact making her lips tingle.

And then tat tingle turned into a feeling of heat that shot all over her body, as Arizona's tongue brushed against her bottom lip, a whimper ripping from the back of her throat, her mouth opening to grant access immediately, loving how the blonde's fingers, now both of her hands cupping her jaw, tightened as their tongues brushed for the first time, then quickly turned back into a soft, caressing touch.

Arizona was positive she had died and gone to heaven, as she tasted Callie Torres on her tongue for the first time in her entire life. Dreams had been dreamt about this moment. Fantasies had been woven. She'd wondered for countless hours about what it would feel like to be able to know the taste of Callie in her mouth, to feel those lusciously full lips pressed against hers.

And nothing – no dream, no fantasy – could ever come close to the real thing. She felt one of Callie's hands come up and cup the back of her neck, bringing her in even closer, their mouths both simultaneously opening wider as the brunette's tongue swirled around hers in a way that reminded Arizona of just how easy it was for Callie to make her painfully aroused.

The best kind of pain in the entire world, of that much she was positive.

Then, like all good things – like all best, wonderful, amazing things – Callie dug her nails into the skin at the base of Arizona's neck, making her shiver, just as her teeth came in to lightly nip at the blonde's tongue, and then they disconnected their mouths, but their faces were still close enough that Arizona could feel Callie's heavy breath on her face.

Looking down, she could see how bruised her lips were, and Arizona grinned. Callie Torres had bruised lips because of her; she had whimpered – she was sure the sound was going to haunt her in the most awesome way all night long – because of Arizona's kiss.

Unable to stop a smile from spreading over her face, she inched in once more, just lightly pressing her lips against those plump red ones, her nose bumping Callie's, as she got one last kiss for the road.

And just to make sure that she was going to be able to stop herself, she leaned back, pulling her head and shoulders out of Callie's rolled down window, making contact with those chocolate eyes as they looked up at her, somewhat dazed and glazed over, "Now, that was a goodnight."

Giggling, she tapped her hand on the top of Callie's car, "Goodnight, Callie," she mimicked herself from just minutes ago.

Callie nodded, a smile playing at her lips, "Goodnight, Arizona."

Stepping back, she waved as the Latina shifted into drive, her tongue flicking out to run over her bottom lip. Yep, she was so screwed. Because there was no possible way she could go back now, not after one little taste of Callie. Now, she just wanted to devour her whole.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much to everyone who already has let me know their thoughts; I really appreciate it. Thank you for reading!**


	5. Second Date Doubt

_May 23_

Asking her little sister for dating advice was not something Callie was too keen on. In fact, it wasn't something she ever thought she would do, because she'd always managed just fine. Actually, better than fine. Plus, there was the fact that her little sister was her _little sister_. Aria used to ask _her_ for advice about how to get people to notice her and what to do on a date.

She frowned, resting her hand on her sister's bedroom doorknob, pausing before she twisted to open it, as she tried to remember the last time that Aria had actually talked to her about those things. All right, the last time Aria had asked her for dating advice was when the younger Torres was fifteen, so it _had_ been quite a while.

Callie had assumed that dating was like riding a bike. That it would easily just come back to her, even if she hadn't done it in so long. And her date with Arizona had gone _so _well, despite being different than the dates she was used to going on from before – actually, she'd thought that made it even better.

While she had had a great time, the question remained whether or not Arizona had. So, she needed to talk this out. And sadly, her life had come to resorting to the need to rely on her sister.

Opening the door, she cringed as she was engulfed in darkness. As it was just afternoon, the sun _should _have been shining in to illuminate the room. But, Aria was prepared for that, she thought, throwing open the curtains to let the light stream in through the bay windows. All she received in response was a groan… which made sense, because her sister was engulfed under the blankets, her hair barely visible.

To fix that problem, Callie yanked the blankets down, grinning in triumph when her sister's dark, confused, and hung over eyes blearily blinking up at her, "What the fuck, Cal?"

"I need your… expertise," she settled on, as she knew she probably shouldn't make any remarks to her sister about her dating habits – Callie was pretty sure Aria was currently in a relationship with at least three men.

And those words nabbed her attention, an eyebrow lifting, "What kind of expertise is the college grad, Peace Corps volunteer, med school bound prodigal daughter seeking from her lowly counterpart?"

Callie rolled her eyes. She and Aria had never been particularly _close_; she was too preoccupied when she was in high school with being self-involved and then she'd gone off to college, rarely visiting or even calling her parents, let alone her sister. After she'd come back from Botswana, things between them had been even more distant, especially when her sister would say things like that, "Aria –"

Much like the younger woman did every time Callie had tried to talk to her about those types of comments, she brushed it off, "What's so important that you had to wake me up at the ass crack of dawn?"

"Noon is hardly the ass crack of dawn," sitting on the edge of the bed, she kicked her legs over the blankets that were now tangled at the end so that her sister couldn't pull them above her head again, and then blew out a breath. It was embarrassing – to say the very least – to have to ask her twenty-two year old sister about dating, but given that Callie hadn't had any regular contact with any of her "friends" in over two years, Aria was her resource, "Here goes," she mumbled, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "How… if you go on a first date, how long should you wait before you can take it as a sign that they're not interested?"

Her sister's head slowly turned to look at her, eyes narrowed, "You're dating? Who are you dating?"

She barely managed to contain a laugh – she was _so_ not going down that road with her sister. Her sister who didn't even know that she was romantically interested in women. In response, she just quirked an eyebrow, "Do I ask you who you're dating?"

Aria huffed, "Fine. How good of a date was it?"

Callie thought about how absolutely fucking adorable Arizona had been at her house, trying to make everything perfect, and then, after that awkwardness had drifted away, how _easy_ it was to just eat pizza and walk on the beach. And that the blonde, who might fit the picture perfect image of a hot bartender, also very effortlessly slipped into telling her all about the constellations in the sky and about the tides on the beach as the waves had started coming in harder, splashing them.

And that goddamn kiss. Feeling a smile pull at her lips, she sighed, "Well, I thought it was a really freaking fabulous date." Then, her hand automatically went to tap at her phone on her pocket, a frown taking over, "But I don't know about – them."

She wondered if her sister was paying any attention to her particular use of the pronoun, but when Aria "hmm"d, her eyes slightly narrowed in thought, she didn't think she had anything to be worried about, "How long as it been?"

"Five days," she answered, the idea that five days had passed making her feel like something definitely was miscommunicated. Because she knew that when someone was really interested, they would let you know by then. Even if Arizona was trying to play it cool, which Callie didn't understand, she was sure she should have heard something by now.

Aria chewed on her bottom lip, bringing up a hand to scoop through her hair, that was shades lighter than Callie's nearly black, "Was there kissing?"

Was there kissing indeed. Logically, she knew that their kiss hadn't been that long. But it was burned in her memory, and not only because it was the first lip lock she'd had in so long; but because Arizona's lips had been soft and giving and then alternatively demanding against hers. Her tongue was skillful as it had danced around her own, and just thinking about it made Callie tingle in the best and worst way of wanting a repeat.

"Ah, yeah. I didn't initiate it, either," was all she answered, and her sister took it in with a nod.

"I see. Have you thought about texting _them_?" Aria said, a challenging hint in her tone, which made Callie wonder… looking down at where Aria was still lying on her back, she bit her lip.

Her sister was more astute than she'd apparently assumed. Which made her feel like an ass, "That's the thing; I did text _them_, the day after the date." Eyebrows furrowed together, she shook her head, "And all I got in response was that they were really busy and would get back to me as soon as they could."

And even though she kept telling herself that Arizona had seemed like she was really excited to go out with her, and that she didn't _seem_ like a person who would blow her off… there was that gut instinct that she felt like she was being blown off.

"Ahh," Aria made the sound last for several beats, "Well, either they really are too busy to call or shoot you a text, even though it would take like two seconds, or – there are other fish in the sea."

"Thank you for those awe-inspiring words," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes, "I just – I swore there was something there." There was a spark. After first dates, you either had that spark or you didn't. And she _knew_ that they did.

Aria made a grab for her comforter, drawing it over her body and burrowing down, yawning, "I didn't get in until almost five this morning and you're expecting me to be on my game? 'Kay."

All right, so maybe talking it out hadn't exactly given her the results that she wanted, and she stood up, "Do you think if I text … them… again, I'm being clingy? Or weird?"

The younger Torres snorted, "You've been weird for the last month." Then she pulled up the blankets so she was in her previous position, the one that Callie had walked in on and woken her up, "Depends. You could always go the kinda creepy route and create a situation in which you have to run into each other. See what's the deal." After a long suffering sigh, she yawned, "Now get out. And don't forget to shut my curtains again."

She ignored the last request, "Maybe you should get out of bed in time to enjoy what an actual day is," she teased, grabbing the pillow from behind her sister's head and pulling it up, then bringing it down to hit it over Aria's face, "And if not, then keep the pillow and the blanket there. Your hangover breath is awful enough to kill someone."

And with that, she walked back toward the door; she had a lady to see.

"I liked you better when you were in Botswana!" Aria called after her.

It was hours later later that she found herself outside of the Just Cause. She hadn't been inside of the bar since before her and Arizona's date, because, much like she'd said to Aria, she didn't want to appear to be clingy. They'd gone on _one_ date. Shared _one_ kiss. One that left her wanting more, but perhaps not the blonde.

And the entire ride here, she had tried to think of ways in which to accidentally run into Arizona, but the fact of the matter was that she didn't know any other reason that she would possibly have to be here, at the bar in the middle of the afternoon. So she was just going to go for a more straight forward route. That had always been more her style, anyway.

Much like three weeks ago, when she'd come to the bar not during business hours, the door was propped open by boxes with alcohol logos on the side of them, telling her that people were inside. Well, the quick text that she'd received from Arizona a half hour ago in response to her asking what she was up to was what specifically told her Arizona was to be found in the business…

Just be confident, she told herself. Walk in and ask Arizona if she wants to go out again. But what happened when she saw the woman in question sitting atop the bar with those legs crossed – wearing rain boots, she noted even though it wasn't raining out – didn't make her feel confident.

Even though the door was propped open, she lifted her hand up and knocked, which made Arizona look up, surprised, then as soon as they made eye contact, Callie smiled. Only for Arizona to immediately drop it, looking back down at her lap, and she felt her stomach drop to the floor.

"Did you have a good time? On our date, I mean. Because I did. I had a really great time, actually, but – well, you haven't called. And you did say that you were going to call, but that was a few days ago," her words came out in a rush, an unplanned rush, as her fingers linked together in front of her and she rocked back and forth on her heels.

Arizona's eyebrows were lifted comically high on her forehead, her mouth open as she stared at the Latina who was still standing in the doorway, with the sun coming in around her and making her look like some sort of goddess, "Callie! I did have a good time with you. And I, uh, I did say I would call, when I wasn't busy." Putting down the paper she'd been cataloging on, she kept the pen in her hand, the tapping of the capped end on her palm revealing some of her nerves.

Forcing herself to stop, she put the pen down as well and hopped off the bar, brushing her hands off, "You remember how Tim and Alex told us about that water main that burst? When they…"

When they interrupted the first five minutes of the date that she and Callie had shared, right before she was going to kiss her in the foyer, was the description that played in her head, but she bit her tongue.

Slowly, Callie nodded, "Yeah?"

Gesturing around them, she explained, "Well, it turns out that that was just the beginning of our problems with our piping. So, I've pretty much been here day and night since then…" she trailed off, and enjoyed the way those caramel cheeks flushed, a dimpled grin appearing on her face.

Bright white teeth dug into that full bottom lip as Callie suddenly realized that she could hear a distant banging, which she would presume was someone working on the pipes, and then those strangely appealing polka dotted rain boots made sense to her. And she felt foolish for just barging in here like this.

Except, before she could figure out what to say to make this situation better, she noticed the way those clear blue eyes ducked away from her gaze, and that gut instinct that Arizona was avoiding her somehow, returned.

And it was reinforced when Arizona's hands came out in front of her, interlocking in front of her as she rocked back and forth on her heels, "So, I am going to call you, when things are a little less crazy here."

Feeling dismissed, with confusion laced with it, she half-turned to leave, then stopped, her mind wondering what had gone wrong that she'd overlooked. Then again, maybe she was reading into it and maybe Arizona really was going to call her. Despite the fact that it had been almost a week, and Aria's words from earlier – about how it would only take a few seconds to send a text – echoed in her mind.

Shaking her head, she walked back through the door she'd stepped into only moments ago. This scene just felt oh so familiar to her.

And as soon as Callie's silhouette was gone, Arizona's head and various parts of her body were yelling at her to stop her. Because how often was it that Callie Torres sought her out to make a point to talk about how good of a time she had on a date? She would take "never" for five hundred, Alex!

But she made herself stay still.

Then she heard again, "You didn't just do that," and this time it wasn't in her head, but from Tim's mouth as he came out of the hallway from behind her.

Most of the flooding was coming from the employee's bathroom, where both Tim and Alex were with a few plumbers. Except, it appeared that they were taking a break, because the entire crew was now coming out towards her.

Her best friend was shaking his head, "The amount of times I have seen you stick your foot in your mouth and let her just walk out of here is disgusting. Z, you're not busy! We told you that you didn't have to come in today. You could have been out with that woman. You know, the woman of your dreams?"

Giving a tight nod at the crew who were making their way, she rolled her eyes at her guys, "Because, that's exactly it! She's the woman of my dreams."

Tim and Alex exchanged looks, both shaking their heads in confusion, and Tim tried to guess, "Uh, and she didn't live up to the fantasy?"

Alex snapped, nodding at the taller man like he'd just figured it all out, "You kissed her, and it didn't live up to the hype you'd built up."

Before they could get going, the way she knew they would, she narrowed her eyes incredulously and crossed her arms, "What? No. How did you even jump to that conclusion?" Not wanting to get into it, she just held up her hand, "She was a good kisser. Her lips were - are... uh. Anyway, I _am_ busy. In case you guys didn't realize," she picked up the paper and pen she'd been using, "We actually, you know, are having a problem with the bar. Which includes not being open for almost a week, and having to figure out all of this –" she broke off to gesture at the end of the bar, where she had a laptop set open, with more papers surrounding it, "– out."

Turning back to it, she threw both of them a look over her shoulder, which – to her – effectively ended the discussion.

But they didn't listen to her cues, which she really should have known by now, and they both walked to the other side of the bar so they could face her, Tim closing the laptop so she would have to look at them, "Just tell us what's going on. Come on. Pretend we're people who like to gossip and give love life advice."

That got her to laugh, "You two _do_ like to gossip and give love life advice, more than anyone I know. You're like two little old ladies in a retirement home."

"Exactly, which is how we know that there's something going on. You were literally salivating over this woman –"

"Dreaming about her –"

"Moaning her name in your sleep –"

Now she stopped them, "Okay, I don't do that." But when they just looked at her, she blushed, trying to think back to the last dream she'd had about Callie. Damn. It was pretty plausible. "Get to your point."

Tim scratched at his head, knocking his baseball hat askew, his blue eyes wide, "The point is, you wanted to go out with her. You apparently had a great first date with a hot woman who apparently inspires dreams and apparently likes you enough to come see you at our shut down bar in the middle of the day. And apparently didn't go running away when she saw you wearing those boots," he pointed to her knee high rubber boots that she'd muddled around in the water in the back rooms with.

Alex slapped her brother's shoulder, "Dude, stop saying apparently. You just said it like ten times."

"Dudes, stop having a relationship, and get to your point already," she was torn between being amused at them and feeling frustrated. Well, maybe not torn, because she felt both emotions, equally.

Tim gave Alex a glare, shaking his head briefly, before turning back to his sister, "The point _is_… why the hell didn't you call her the day after your date? I know you wanted to. You were walking around with big blue cow eyes, glazed over at just the thought of the date."

Even though the description and the laughing way he said it made her cringe, she didn't refute it. And she _had_ wanted to call Callie the next day and see if she was free to do, well, anything, really. But that had been when the thought hit her: they'd only had one date and she already was excited to see Callie again.

Bracing her hands on the bar, she bit the inside of her lip before taking a deep breath and expelling it, "Because our one date was great. And so was she. And "apparently" she thought the same thing. So what if she continues to be perfect and she thinks that I am, too? What then?" she asked, her voice slightly taking on a hysteric tone, as she waited for them to see where she was coming from.

Alex and Tim both stared at her, mirroring expressions of confusion on their faces as they exchanged glances, then both came back to her, her best friend being the first one to guess, "Uh, then you have sex?"

Tapping her hands on the bar, she pushed herself back, "I mean after the sex," which she was positive would also be mind-blowingly perfect. "She's going to California, for med school in the fall. That's less than four months away. Do you even know how easy it would be for me to fall for that woman?"

Because she knew exactly how easy it would be. And it wouldn't take much. So, as much as she did want to be the person who was with Callie for the summer, the first person to touch that incredible body in two and a half years, as she'd hungered to do since Callie had revealed that there had been no one since before she'd gone into the Peace Corps... she was pretty damn certain that if she was that person, then she wouldn't be able to hold herself back.

Tim came around the bar, reaching out and putting both of his hands on her shoulders, then shaking, "Arizona. Are you really not going to pursue the dating of this woman because in four months you might still be with her? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Don't think of it like that. Don't be a worrier."

Alex joined in, "He's right, Z. You went on a great first date with a hot chick who wants you. Do you know how many people would kill to swap a shitty, falls lower than expectations date for that one? And seriously, I'm sick of seeing that woman's ass – however great it is – walk out of here after you make a fool of yourself."

She was sick of seeing it, too. Biting her bottom lip, she weighed her options. If she thought of it in the most basic, simple terms that her guys were laying it out in: hot, smart, funny lady who had lips that could make angels weep, or, well, not, then the decision was glaringly obvious.

But everything wasn't all that simple, right? It couldn't be.

And then she thought of the way Callie had looked just now, coming to see her. And despite the stupid reservations she'd been having, she still wanted to have that second date. And the sex. "Do you guys need me –"

They waved her on, "Go call her."

She was already halfway to the door, pulling out her phone and hitting Callie's contact number. Unintentionally holding her breath, she rolled her eyes at herself. Clearly, Callie was not an idiot. And the look on her face, the tone of her voice when she'd left minutes ago… she definitely knew what Arizona had been setting up.

Maybe she was just biologically predetermined not only to be ridiculously attracted to the Latina but also to be an idiot when it came to her. Or maybe the two were linked. Arizona thought it seemed extremely likely.

But a big part of her didn't think she was being stupid about this. Even though her teenage feelings for Callie were one-sided, they took a while to go away; in fact, she'd recently been wondering if they ever really went away. Maybe they'd just been dormant because of how little she'd seen her. Regardless, after graduation, after she wasn't on Callie's mind at all as she went off to college, she had actually missed Callie.

It wasn't the kind of missing she'd experienced since then – the missing of a girlfriend after a break up kind of missing. But this time, it could be that kind of missing.

But her brother and Alex were right; she shouldn't even be worried about what was going to happen four months in the future. That was ridiculous; she'd been psyching herself out. It only took a few seconds before Callie answered, "Arizona?"

"Callie, hi! I, uh, had a really good time on our date the other night. And I was wondering if maybe you would be able to –" she stopped where she'd been pacing, as she saw the car she'd recognized as the brunette's was still parked in the lot outside. Jogging toward it, she peeked into the passenger window, but there was no one inside.

Then she heard a low chuckle, both from the phone against her ear and from behind her. Spinning around, she saw Callie standing on the side of the bar, her hair blowing slightly with the wind coming off the water, smiling at her.

God, Callie was sure those dimples went on for days, as Arizona hung up her phone and made her way over. The sun seemed to catch in that blonde hair, making it shine, as Arizona lifted an eyebrow at her, "I thought you'd already be halfway home."

She stuck her thumb over her shoulder, "I, uh, saw Max when I left. And I just stopped by to pet him."

Arizona followed her gaze, and made eye contact with the dog peeking around the corner. They had a hitch in the back of the bar to attach his leash to in the event that all three of them would have to be at the bar for an undetermined amount of time so he wouldn't be home alone all day, "I'm surprised he didn't hide from you. He's usually a big grump around most people. Alex has been living with us for three years and Max still occasionally pees outside of his room just to show that he's not welcome."

As if to prove her point, he swiftly turned around so he was out of their sight. Callie shrugged, for some reason really liking that Max liked her, "What can I say, I guess I just made an impression on him."

"Or he associates you with that chicken he stole," she joked, before those dimples disappeared and she squinted against the light up at Callie, "So, like I was about to say on the phone, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out again? I mean, obviously, you do because you came by here tonight –"

Recognizing the signs of a ramble, Callie felt the weird rejection feeling she'd been sure was going to come of this only moments ago, melt away, "Yes, I obviously do want to go out again." She thought of how her mother had told her that under no terms was she going to miss the business mixer that both she and her sister were to attend for their father, "I'm busy tonight. But what do you say about you letting me take you out… tomorrow night?"

That sweet smile reappeared, "I would say that that sounds like a good plan."

Callie's mouth opened, but before Arizona would know what she was going to say, they were interrupted by a loud bang from inside, followed by Alex swearing and Tim calling out, "Arizona? Now would probably be a good time to start helping us mop."

Of course it was. Closing her eyes, she sighed, "They really do have the very best timing, don't they?"

Callie laughed, "Oh yeah. Absolutely." But now that she had Arizona outside and talking to her again, she didn't just want to go home. And Arizona with her cutoff shorts and tank top with those fucking turquoise polka dot rain boots was just too much. "I, uh, don't have to be anywhere for a few hours. I could stay? Help you guys a little bit?"

Arizona's eyebrows shot up on her forehead, dragging her eyes down Callie's form. She had noticed how Callie did dress slightly "down" compared to the other people from the neighborhood where the Torres family lived… but the sandals she was wearing still probably cost double of what the blonde's entire wardrobe doubled did, and she sent her a grin, "I wouldn't have any objections to that. However, your fancy sandals might. I don't want to brag or anything… but you don't have these awesome boots like I do."

A laugh came out before she could stop it, and she looked down at her own feet. These "fancy sandals" as Arizona called them, had several near-doppelgangers in the back of her closet. "I think I can take the hit."

She couldn't quite decipher the way Arizona was looking at her before she led the way back into the bar, but it wasn't necessarily a bad look. When she'd come here, she didn't think that she'd be helping the blonde mop up the back room… and she definitely didn't think she'd be doing anything of the sort after the blonde had promised to give her a call.

But she definitely wasn't complaining.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Thank you for all of the feedback so far, it's awesome! I would now say that the projection for this story is going to be about 11/12 chapters. Thanks for reading!**


	6. The Beginning of One Great Summer

_May 24_

Callie approached the Robbins household with a bounce in her step to pick Arizona up for their second date. She was here early, as she was for their first date, which she thought really just showed how eager she was because anyone who knew her could attest to the fact that she was chronically five or ten minutes late to everything.

After she rang the doorbell, she rocked back onto her heels for just a second before the music that was blasting from inside caught her attention. Frowning, she leaned in trying to catch the tune again and when she did, she couldn't help but laugh.

It didn't take long before Arizona opened the door, slightly breathless, balancing herself with one hand on the door and the other reaching down to pull on her sneaker. She gave Callie a confused half-smile, only revealing one dimpled cheek, "I thought you were just going to text me and I'd meet you outside?"

There was this ridiculous urge she had to lift her hand up and run her index finger over the dip in the soft skin that she had to strongly resist. Shaking herself out of her slight stupor, she cocked her head to the side, "Well, I was always taught that a proper date always picks up at the door… did you really just not want me to catch you listening to N'Sync?"

Arizona's mouth opened in indignation before she shook her head, "This isn't my music!"

And Callie clearly didn't believe her, and she laughed at the expression on the blonde's face, "Arizona, it's okay."

"But –" then she just shook her head before reaching out her hand and taking Callie by the arm to pull her a few steps forward across the threshold, giggling in the process.

Still amused, even more so as she took her date's giggle for somewhat nervous laughter, she rubbed her hand over the paler one that was on her arm, "It's okay. Sometimes I still listen to the Backstreet Boys –"

Then she cut herself off as soon as Arizona lifted her hand to point into the living room area, where the music was coming from. And she slapped her hand over her mouth, which did nothing to stifle the laughter bubbling up in her throat, "Oh… okay."

Because both Tim and Alex were sitting across from each other at a card table in the corner of the room, bobbing their heads along to Bye Bye Bye and occasionally singing the lyrics while playing poker. Her face was stuck in a grin, and then her laughter became uncontrollable as they both – perfectly synced – sang in tune, "You may hate me but it ain't no lie –"

It was Tim that spotted them in the doorway first, and he swiftly kicked Alex, who turned to face her as well. Arizona's brother adjusted his perpetually worn baseball cap on his head, looking defiantly up at her, "Hey, N'Sync is nothing to apologize for."

She lifted her hands in the air in a surrender, "I never said it was… I mean, technically, the Backstreet Boys were a _better_ boy band, but…" she trailed off, enjoying the way Tim held up a finger to stop her from going any farther.

But Arizona recognized the signs, "Oh, no, not getting into it. Come on, Callie. Bye guys."

Callie allowed herself to be pulled out of the room, nudging Arizona with her elbow, "So what about you, were you a Backstreet Boys kind of girl or an N'Sync one? Everyone has a favorite."

Blue eyes sparkled in laughter as they looked up at her, "Neither. Do I look okay for where we're going? I know you said "really casual", so…"

She stepped back, running her eyes down the slim body in front of her, which, wearing a gray tank top that revealed a perfect amount of creamy skin that her hands itched to touch, as well as changing the shade of her eyes to a different kind of blue, and a pair of short white shorts, already made her heart beat faster. Arizona had that kind of effortless way of being casually sexy without any kind of preparation.

And she really, really liked it. As well as those legs. She really liked those legs. A lot. Her eyes felt like they were glued to them even though her head told her to be respectful and look back up, "You look great. And besides, we're only going to my car."

Arizona's eyes had been focusing on the way Callie's top clung to her breasts, until those words came out and her eyes immediately darted to the Latina's face, which was rapidly blushing as she squeezed her eyes closed. And instantly, images of the two of them in the back of the SUV Callie was driving in various states of undress clouded her mind. Her eyebrows lifted high onto her forehead and she asked, "I thought this was supposed to be a proper date?"

And those images didn't stop even when the brunette said, "I, uh, I really didn't mean for that to sound like… it did. I just – I didn't mean that our date is going to be… Damn. Can we start the last minute over?" Because Callie was pretty sure that with what she just said, it sounded like she planned on taking Arizona out to her car and ravishing her as her "date" plan. Taking a deep breath, she rephrased, "What I meant to say was that, you look great, and we are only going to my car because… I don't want to ruin what I had planned. So, just keep in mind that I didn't mean anything inappropriate by that comment."

The way Arizona was smiling back at her with that small teasing grin was perfect, and she nodded, wavy blonde hair bouncing with the movement, "Duly noted." When Pop started playing, she tilted her head in the direction of the still open door, "We should go before they try to break out their boy band dance moves."

As the door closed behind them and they started toward her car, Callie looked over her shoulder through the living room window, "So, are Tim and Alex, you know, together?"

Arizona barked out a laugh, "No. They're just… Tim and Alex. I can't really explain them, actually."

She thought back to the previous day, as the four of them had worked in the bar to clean up the mess that had been caused by the water damage, and how it had been Alex's idea to slip plastic bags over her feet, "I like them," she admitted, reaching to open the passenger side door for Arizona, who paused before getting into the car.

"You like them?" she could hear the surprise evident in her own tone, even though she didn't mean to be so obvious about it. But she was pretty certain that every time Callie was around, her best friend and brother did or said enough for her to find them fairly annoying.

With a small smile, she nodded, "Yeah. They're funny and they obviously care about you. And I had a better time with the three of you singing into the handles of our mops yesterday than I did at the social mixer I had to be at with my parents when I left."

The widening of blue eyes was comical, "Seriously? You slipped and fell because of the bags Alex told you to wear on your feet; you classify that as a good time?"

Subconsciously, she reached down to rub over the spot on her hip where she bumped into the edge of a counter on her fall, "Even with that. You – and Tim and Alex – talk to me like an actual person. Everyone from last night pretty much just said things like, "Were you able to have your cell phone while in Africa?""

Arizona giggled at the impression, during which Callie dramatically threw her hair over her shoulder and heightened the pitch of her voice, "I'm hoping you're exaggerating."

Big, brown eyes were dead serious when they looked back at her, "I wish I was." She squinted up at the sky, then brought her hand down, lightly brushing it over Arizona's shirt covered waist, enjoying the body heat underneath her hand through the thin fabric of her top before she pushed a bit, urging her to climb in, "Now, we have to get a move on."

By the time she made it to the driver's side, Arizona had buckled herself in and was holding a finger up to her chin in thought, "If we're not leaving your car… the only thing I can think of would be a drive-in movie. Or a drive-through."

The second guess she said with a disturbed look, which made her laugh out loud, "I pick you up at the door like a proper lady and then you think I'm going to take you to McDonalds? I'm frankly a little insulted. This is just our second date… fast food is much more of a fifth or sixth date," she added on with a wink.

"Oh, then I look forward to it… but I much prefer pizza. For future reference," the blonde shifted in her seat, to look out the window, "Hmm. Do you mind if I guess where we're going to go?"

Flicking on a blinker, she shrugged, "You can try, but you're never going to get it."

A blue eye winked at her, "I like a challenge." It was only a minute later that the blonde turned back to look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion with an adorable pout on her face, "But you did just turn away from the road that would have brought us out to anything that I know would be date-like areas… the only thing that I know is around here is –"

She guessed it just in time as they drove into view: their old high school. It was a private school nestled into the woods at the bottom of a hill. The absolutely baffled tone in Arizona's voice just made the smile on her face get even bigger, "You're bringing me to our old school?"

"Close," she replied, driving by the entrance and turning onto the narrow gravel road next to it, the winding one that drove up the hill, "We're going to Perkins Point."

Perkins Point was a clearing up at the top of the hill, that was also formerly nicknamed –

The amusement was evident in Arizona's voice, "Pucker-up Point? Callie, you really have me wondering about how much of a proper lady you are."

She took her eyes off of the road for just a second to look at her face, and even though her tone was light and flirty, she had that trademark blush staining her cheeks; Callie was really starting to fucking love that blush. Just as she reached the highest point on the hill, into the clearing, she swung the car around to back it in to the perfect spot, explaining, "Well, I was trying to decide where to take you on our date. Because our pizza and walking on the beach date was simple and romantic, and it was going to be hard to top that, especially because the last dates I went on usually consisted either of fancy restaurants or clubs. Not that I wouldn't want to go to a fancy restaurant or a club with you, but… I wanted to do something that I never got the chance to do."

All right, the car was in the perfect position, she thought, putting it into park, before making eye contact with those baby blues. Or, trying to, as Arizona was looking up and away from her, her blush becoming an even deeper red, as she lifted a hand to scratch at the back of her hear, "Well, uh, I seem to recall several stories about you… here… on dates."

Her mouth fell open and she reached over to swat are Arizona's shoulder, "Are you calling me a slut?"

Oh, god. Arizona closed her eyes tight, shaking her head, and wondered how the hell words left her mouth sometimes, "No! No, not a slut. Definitely not. I just… am an idiot. I don't know why I said that. I'm sorry." She didn't think she'd ever stuck her foot in her mouth that much on a date before, and if she _had_ it was quite literally years ago, before in the very beginning of her dating game.

But instead of Callie kicking her ass out of the car and driving away, the warm, soft hand that had lightly hit her, reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. The touch was extremely brief – too brief because having the brunette's hand on her in any way made her feel like she was on fire – and it got her to reopen her eyes, just peeking at Callie to gauge how badly she'd messed up.

However, the small, gorgeous smile on her face confused Arizona, especially as Callie unbuckled her seatbelt, shrugging, "It's okay; I did make out with quite a few guys up here in high school. I wouldn't say I was a slut, but I _would_ concede to having… slutty tendencies. One of the several other aspects of my life that has changed for the better in the last few years."

"Twenty-eight months is definitely not slutty," she said quietly, _vividly_ remembering the way Callie had told her how long it had been. At the same time that she told her she was horny. And now they were parked here, and that curvy body looked just as delicious as it always did.

The small groan that escaped through those plump, red lips did amazing things to her body, and Callie shook her head, "Don't say that awful number out loud. It's really painful."

Shifting in her seat, she already felt a dull throbbing in between her own legs, just because – Callie and her body and her smell surrounded Arizona in the car and twenty-eight months and horny – "Painful. I believe it."

Her eyes were drawn to and stuck on those lips as Callie's tongue darted out to moisten them, "You have no idea." Brown eyes closed and she shook herself out of this little trance they had somehow gotten into. Because she _hadn't_ taken Arizona to Pucker-up Point for the obvious reason, but it was so simple to just get stuck thinking about how long it had been and how good the blonde looked… Clearing her throat, she tapped both of her palms against the steering wheel to return to her explanation of the date choice.

"Well, like I was saying. I _have_ been here in the past, but that was always for… not actual dates. But sometimes, I would come up here by myself to watch the sunset, because it has the best overlook at the city that I've ever seen. And I've never been on a date with someone who I thought would actually like to watch the sunset with me. Until, well, you."

That sweet smile was adorning Arizona's face once more, dimples popping, "I would love to watch the sunset with you from up here." Then she looked around, taking off her seatbelt in the process, "But, you do realize we're parked so that we're facing the opposite direction of overlooking the city?"

"Of course I realize that; it's all a part of my plan," she wiggled her eyebrows, making the blonde laugh, before she opened the door, "Come on. Meet me around back."

Sliding out of the car, she hustled to the back of the vehicle, inwardly high-fiving herself at how perfectly she'd parked, so that there was only a few feet away from the guard rail and the SUV. She'd realized almost a decade ago that if you parked just so, the guard rail wouldn't be visible from where you sat in your car, and it looked like you somehow had a seat halfway to the sky. Before Arizona made it back, she opened the large rear door and it slid up, overhanging above and revealing the blanket she'd laid out in the cargo space with a picnic basket in the middle.

By the time the blonde joined her, she was posing with her arm outspread toward the picnic set up, "I know a backseat picnic is a little strange, but –"

Arizona cut her off with a smile, "It sounds great," before she hopped up to sit on the blanket and scooted back, patting the area next to her.

Which was all the enticement Callie needed to join her. Opening the basket she'd packed before going to pick up Arizona, she started to unload the plates and containers, "I hope you like Cuban. My uncle owns a restaurant in Little Havana, and I got a spread from him."

Arizona caught a sight of the label, her face lighting up in a smile, "Your uncle owns that place? We order from there all of the time."

Their eyes met and she gave her a wide grin before continuing to empty out the food, ending by pulling out a bottle of wine, which made those blue eyes spark, "Did you know that the origin of the word picnic was actually in reference not to people bringing their own food to eat, but their own wine to drink?"

Letting out a small chuckle, she poured them both a glass, "I love that you know that."

She waited until they started to eat before asking the question that had been rolling around in her head for a while, "So, you can tell me all of the names and stories of the constellations and the origin of the word picnic. And I swear I remember hearing something about you going off to…" she trailed off, trying to locate the memory, "Northwestern? But instead, you're working at the bar? I don't mean anything by that, I just mean, I was surprised when I saw you there."

Arizona shrugged, looking down at her plate and taking a bite of the food, swallowing before answering, "It was Northwestern. And I did go – I got accepted early acceptance for premed and I got a bunch of scholarships," her words were dripping with the pride of the memory, and Callie wanted to smile at it, because she _remembered_ that. She remembered Arizona telling her of her plans one day when they were supposed to be dissecting some animal's heart or other. That she'd gotten into a premed program and was excited to go.

That had been the last she'd known of Arizona's life after high school until she'd walked into the bar at the beginning of the month. And those blue eyes just looked so dejected that she wanted to lift up her hand and run her thumbs right underneath them, as if she could rub away that look of sadness.

But she didn't, because she didn't think Arizona wanted her sympathy. Biting her lip, she prompted, "So, what happened?"

Arizona shrugged again, looking out at the sunset, "My dad, he… a month before I was supposed to go back for my junior year, he died. Tim was already working full time at the bar, which my dad opened after he got out of the marines. And we were both – it wasn't a good time, for either of us. I couldn't just go back halfway across the country. So, I started working at the Just Cause and… that was just it."

Callie closed her eyes, cursing herself. Why did she just had to go and dredge up those old memories? "Arizona, I'm really sorry."

She got a small, tight smile in response, "Don't be. It was five years ago. I'm… everything's okay now."

This time, she didn't hold back her urge to lift her hand and run her finger over the dimple in that cheek, "Well, I'm glad everything's okay now. But it's still tough, and I'm still sorry. It's nice that you're so close to Tim, though."

Arizona nodded, "Yeah, we both leaned on each other pretty heavily. And Alex… sometimes he can be a little rough around the edges, but he took pretty good care of both of us for a while." Her smile was back at full strength, "Which is why I'm glad you like them, because I know they can be a little much, but they're my guys. And not a lot of the women I've dated have had the tolerance for them."

"Then I guess it's good for us that I do, huh?" she sent her a smile as they continued eating.

Then Arizona asked, "So, what about your family? How close are you to them?"

With a wry smile, she looked at her through her eyelashes, "Well, I choose to spent most of my nights sitting at your bar instead of at home…" shaking her head, she shrugged, "No, I shouldn't say that; they're not bad. My dad and I get along well, but he's really busy. My mom and I don't really see eye to eye on a lot." Looking down at her lap, she shrugged, "It's funny, we _used_ to be close. Before the Peace Corps. But ever since I got back, now that I like who I am better, we just don't have common ground anymore."

Because the things that her mom did and cared about were things that she used to think mattered, like social mixers and dinner parties, but now… not so much. As she took a bite of food, Arizona gave her a sympathetic look, "Like how you were telling me last week, about how you're different now?"

She nodded, "Yeah. And then there's Aria, who graduated from college this spring. And has no plans to do anything except for party. Which is exactly what I _didn't_ want to happen for her, you know? It was kind of the catalyst for my own life changing." Tapping her hand against her thigh, she shrugged and gave Arizona a small smile, "I kind of envy the closeness you have with Tim, that way. Unless I catch Aria right when she's woken up – and vulnerable," she joked, "Then she doesn't even want to give me the time of day."

A pale hand reached out and touched her shoulder just briefly before dropping, "You know, you have all summer to make her give you the time of day."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

A few moments later, after a sip of wine, Arizona said, "The Spice Girls."

Confused, she turned to look at her, "Huh?"

"I didn't care for boy bands; I liked the Spice Girls," she elaborated, bringing Callie back to earlier, and she laughed.

"That's good to know. Posh? Ginger? Baby?"

Arizona wrinkled her forehead and shook her head, "Sporty."

Callie just stared at her, "Arizona, no one liked Sporty Spice."

She shrugged, setting her empty plate aside, and shifting to recline a bit so she could see the sun start to go down in the orangey pink sky, "I did! I like brunettes and Posh scared me."

"Fair enough," she conceded with a laugh, maneuvering the same way to look out at the sky, but only briefly.

As Arizona stared out at the scenery, she couldn't help but stare at her. The golden strands that were half pulled back in a clip were slightly wind-blown from where they were sitting on the blanket and the way the orange sky reflected off of her skin made her love like she had some sort of mystical glow. There was a small smile playing at pink lips, like Arizona was just completely at peace, and looking at her gave Callie a warm, fluttery feeling low in her stomach. Not in a nervous way, but in a really _good_ way.

"You're really beautiful, Arizona," she told her, her voice low, and she could tell by the way Arizona slowly turned her head to face her with her eyebrows drawn down, that her words had been unexpected.

But that smile was still on her lips, as she admonished, "You're supposed to be watching the sun go down, Callie; not me."

Playfully, she stuck out her tongue, "Well, sorry. I can't help it." Biting her bottom lip, she looked out at the lowering sun.

Until Arizona let out a soft sigh, and she looked back at her to find that blue eyes were now watching her, "Callie? Can I tell you something?" Before she could respond, the blonde had pushed herself up so she was sitting up straight and both of her hands were in her lap, "I, um, I didn't not call you just because I was busy. I mean, obviously, I _was_ busy at the bar, but… I could have called."

She somehow had this way of making Callie feel like she was always _this_ close to being rejected while still being completely adorable. She pushed herself up, too, preparing herself for whatever Arizona was going to say, while nodding, "I know. I might not have been dating for a while, but I do know the feeling of being blown off."

"I'm not – I don't want to blow you off. I just – I really like you," the words were rushed coming out of her mouth, and she shook her head at herself, "I – maybe a second date is a little soon to say that to you, but, I feel like we have some history and that I can tell you that. So, I really like you." She looked expectantly at her.

And Callie was far from understanding what she was saying, and she found herself smiling, and that nice warm feeling in her stomach intensifying, "I really like you, too. Call me crazy, but I don't think that's a bad thing?"

Arizona took a deep breath, eyes focusing on the sunset beyond them, "It's – it's not. It's a really good thing. I guess, I just got really ahead of myself. Because I just thought about, you know, you're leaving at the end of the summer, and I've never really started anything with someone else that already has a time bomb."

She took that in, nodding, "So, you just figured it would be better to stop dating or whatever it is we're doing sooner rather than later." She wasn't going to lie – disappointment welled up inside of her fast and strong, but she bit her lip, "I… well, I want to keep seeing you. Because I think that watching sunsets and going to the beach and even hanging out at the bar with Tim and Alex has already been some of the best times I've had since I've been home. And I think that we could have one really great summer together. But, I understand if you don't want to." Damn, she _really_ wanted to have that potentially really great summer.

Arizona had warring voices in her head. The logical part of her was saying that while she clearly had a great time with Callie, she _knew_ it would be better for her in the long run to cut whatever they might have off at the knees. But the other part of her – every other part of her – was telling her that she had a beautiful, hot woman who took her on picnics and didn't mind her guys who wanted to date her. And those parts of her won out over the logical, "No, I… I really want to keep whatever this is, going."

The smile that lit up Callie's face was huge and radiant and it nearly made her heart stop, "Good. Me, too."

Her eyes fell back down to Callie's lips – she'd had such an obsession with them, even back in high school. And right now, all she could think of was the way they felt under hers after their first date. How pliant they were, how giving they were, how they tasted… "Callie? Can I tell you something else?"

Callie had been paying close attention to the shift in Arizona's mood, watched the darkening of her eyes, and it made her feel breathless, "Absolutely."

The small, sly grin the shorter woman gave her was enough to make her heart pound in her chest, "I used to imagine bringing you up here when we were in high school. And I had less pure intentions than a picnic sunset."

Callie quirked up an eyebrow, desire already starting to slide through her veins at the words, "Oh, really?"

Arizona felt surprisingly not embarrassed at her own confession, which was shocking to her, but she reveled in the feeling. In the feeling that she was starting to feel more confident around Callie, and she sighed with a smile, shifting on the blanket and lying down onto her back, pillowing her head on her hands, "Yep."

She closed her eyes, still able to see her old fantasies about what she wanted to do to Callie in the back of the pickup truck she and Tim had shared in their youth. Then her eyes flew open as she felt Callie straddle her hips, and brown eyes were right above hers, black hair hanging down and curtaining their faces, as Callie's voice was low, the tone driving her crazy, "Why don't you show me what you used to imagine, then?"

Those lips crashed down to hers, and this time there was no slow, innocent beginning to their kiss like there had been on their first date. Their tongues met immediately and just that small taste of Callie, the feeling of their mouths opening against each other's made her arousal pound through her.

Her hands came out from under her own head to cup Callie's diving into that thick dark hair, their kiss becoming deeper, teeth clashing just a bit. She could feel those long fingers drawing patterns on her chest, just lightly sweeping over the tops of her breasts. Their mouths separated, Callie's teeth digging perfectly painfully into her bottom lip for just a second as she asked, her words interrupted by laboring breaths in and out, "Can I-?"

Her grip tightened in those dark locks and she nodded, "Mhmm, yes," because Callie could touch her wherever the hell she wanted. Then she felt her tank top get pushed up as one of those tan hands slipped down and start whispering her fingers up and down her skin.

Callie had intended on going straight for Arizona's chest. But the stomach muscles tensing under her fingers as she lightly moved her hand over the flat expanse of soft skin was surprisingly arousing in and of itself. But then she had enough of that, and slid her hand up cupping a bra covered breast in her hand, loving the way the simple touch made a groan sound like it was ripped out of Arizona's chest.

Arizona used the hold she had on Callie to tug her up, so she could attach her lips to the warm caramel skin of her neck, scraping her teeth just below her ear, making Callie shudder. Which she responded to with her own shudder as a finger went under the cup of her bra and flicked over her nipple, Callie's name falling from her lips on a groan.

Her mouth continued to work on her neck, tasting the smooth skin there, inhaling the scent of Callie's shampoo that began to permeate her senses, her own hands leaving their hold tangled in black hair to slide down to slide up and down the backs of perfect thighs, before sliding even higher over that ass.

God, it felt just as fucking awesome as she had always thought it would. Her hands squeezed over the fabric of the shorts Callie was wearing, itching to slide under the material, even coming up to rest on her lower back before pausing, disjointed thoughts running through her head. Second date. Don't want to rush things.

Callie's lips moved against the shell of her ear, groaning just a little as her fingers rolled over the tip of Arizona's breast before switching to the other one, making her arch her chest into the pleasure, before she husked out, "Mm, do it."

Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head when that tongue flicked out and traced over her ear, and her fingertips edged into the back of Callie's shorts before stopping, and panting out, "But – are we going too fast?"

Then she was missing the feeling of that mouth against her as Callie pulled back to give her an incredulous look, "I haven't had sex in over two years, Arizona. That's moving slower than molasses. And if you don't keep moving your hands down, I'm going to fucking die."

Her hands inched even more past the waist of the shorts, then paused when she encountered the top of her underwear, and Callie groaned, shaking her hips, adding on to her previous statement, "And we've known each other for ten years –"

That was the final push, and she slid both of her hands the rest of the way down, digging her nails into the soft, supple skin of that awe-inspiring butt, at the same time correcting, "Twelve years," before Callie's mouth crashed back down to hers.

It was barely seconds – or at least, it felt like seconds – later that Arizona swore she heard a car, and she turned her head, breaking their kiss, "Did you hear that?"

The hand that wasn't working magic under the cups of her bra came up to cup her jaw and turn her head firmly back into the kiss, "No." And she really didn't give a damn to question it any farther than that.

But then the next sound they heard were footsteps approaching them, and she scrambled to pull her hands out of Callie's pants, as her eyes opened and she saw blue lights flashing and just as that tan hand had pulled out of her shirt, they heard a woman clear her throat behind them, "Excuse me ladies, but parking on public land to –"

Arizona squeezed her eyes closed tightly, and she could feel her cheeks burn bright red because she _knew_ that voice, as Callie, who was still straddling her hips, turned her head to give the officer a flushed, embarrassed smile, "Sorry, officer, we –"

And then Callie got cut off as the woman interrupted, "Arizona?"

She peeked her eyes open, meeting the eyes of her ex-girlfriend, "Um, hi, Jen. How're you?"

Confused dark eyes ran back and forth between Arizona and the police officer, who shuffled awkwardly, losing her confident stance, "I've been… all right. What about you?"

She rolled her eyes up at the ceiling, biting her lip, "Pretty good."

The implication of why she'd been feeling pretty good fell between them – literally – as Callie shifted even more so she was sitting up, and that gave Arizona enough room to push herself up onto her elbows.

Jen pushed at her light brown hair spilling out of her ponytail, her eyes narrowed at the Latina briefly, before she took a step back, "Well. Good, I'm glad. Just so you know, you guys can't stay parked here. I, um, hear my radio."

She abruptly turned on her heel and walked away, and Callie looked back down at her, a small smile playing on her lips, "Old friend?"

Arizona wiped one hand down her face, then back up to rub at her eyes, "Funny. Ex."

And that small smile grew even bigger on Callie's face, until it was a full-blown, huge grin, "We just got caught making out in a public place by your cop ex-girlfriend."

Those dark eyes laughed into hers as soon as they heard the police car behind them start up and the gravel under the tires drive away, and then Callie lifted her bent leg from the side of her body and swung it over to land on her back, lying next to Arizona in the back of the car. As she continued to laugh, she rolled onto her side and reached for Arizona's hand, lacing their fingers together.

Arizona tightened her hand around Callie's, and watching and hearing that unbridled laughter made her start to giggle, too. Turning her head, she made eye contact with those exuberant brown eyes, that seemed to be illuminated with the remnants of the setting sun, and she knew that she was absolutely, undoubtedly, going to fall in love with Callie Torres this summer.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Any feedback _about the story_ is greatly appreciated. Honestly, I appreciate every review in which I read an opinion about the story. I am begging you to please not review in response to another reviewer, it's unnecessary and everyone is entitled to an opinion. That being said, thank you for reading!**


	7. Stay

_May 31_

Using the back of her hand to wipe away the sweat on her forehead, Arizona only took the brief respite for a few seconds before continuing to stock under the bar. She was in an unusually bad mood, and the fact that she was behind in stocking only fifteen minutes before the bar was supposed to open only made the scowl on her face grow even deeper.

Due to her kneeling on the ground behind the bar, she couldn't see who it was that opened the front door, and then she snapped, "We're not open yet!"

"I know," came the response, and she instantly recognized Callie's voice.

Bracing her hands on the sides of the box she was in the middle of unloading, she stood, "Hey. What are you doing here?"

And the sight that met her lightened her sour mood, with the Latina standing just a foot inside of the doorway, a bouquet of flowers in hand and an uncertain smile on her face, "I was just coming to bring you some Happy Re-Opening flowers," she walked forward and placed them on the counter, before those dark eyes flickered back over her shoulder, "I guess I should go, though, and let you get back to… what you were doing."

But before she could take another step, Arizona practically jumped, reaching out and grabbing her wrist over the bar, "No, wait, stay. I can, uh, get you a drink?"

Callie didn't move any farther away, though, and leaned in closer to the bar so that Arizona wasn't reaching so far out, making it easy for her to slide her hand down over smooth, caramel skin, until she reached her fingers. And then with a bit of reluctance, she let her hand fall onto the bar, before picking up the flowers and bringing them up to her nose to sniff.

She wasn't really one for flowers, usually. Often times, she forgot about them and they died, and mostly, they made her think of her mother's funeral. But she liked _these_ flowers. And despite the fact that she'd made it her plan to sweep Callie off of her feet, when she did stuff like this, stuff that made Arizona feel swept away, she wasn't sure which she liked more.

"You didn't have to do this," she inhaled the fresh, crisp scent of the flowers once more before setting them down on one of the shelves behind her. Tapping her hands on the bar, she kicked her foot against the box underneath, immediately reminded that she really needed to get back working before the bar was officially going to open, leaving her unprepared for the start of the night.

But it had been a full week since their second date, and this time she really _had_ been busy with the bar every day, and between that and some social… event week type thing that Callie had been busy with most nights, they hadn't gotten to have a third date. Or even see each other beyond a brief time during which Callie had surprised her, Tim, and Alex with lunch when they'd been too busy to go home and get lunch because of the meeting with the plumbers and contractors. So, she wanted Callie to stay for just a few minutes, even if it did make her fall just a bit farther behind schedule, "Drink?" she prompted again, reaching for a glass.

But Callie just shook her head, "No, I don't want anything to drink. I just wanted to come say that I hope your grand re-opening goes great. Speaking of, I thought all three of you were going to be working tonight?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, she was reminded of why tonight was looking to be so fucking terrible, "Yeah, we were. But Tim and Alex were both up all last night puking; they came down with something. So, I'll be here by myself tonight."

Which was why she was so behind schedule because she was going to be doing all of the prep work by herself, as well as serving everyone by herself, and then staying late to clean up by herself. She was more than glad that the bar was back up and running, but… she wasn't looking forward to the long night ahead.

She'd much rather go out with Callie on their much anticipated third date that they'd been texting about for the last week. Especially as she was wearing heeled sandals and black romper shorts that made her look like she'd stepped right out of a magazine.

"And I'm already running a little bit behind," she said, closing her eyes, she shook her head and fell back into a squat to continue unloading bottles onto the lower shelves.

Tonight was not about her burgeoning love life with Callie Torres; it was about the Just Cause.

And then her gaze fell to those ridiculously sexy feet wrapped in the strappy heeled sandals, and blue eyes slowly ran up her legs, her throat running dry at the thought that she _knew_ how soft they were and how they felt as they straddled her hips in the back of Callie's car… damn, they really needed that third date.

Swallowing hard, she brought her eyes up to amused dark ones with one quirked eyebrow and she was so, so unbelievably relieved that somewhere in the last few weeks, that awkwardness that she felt around her was gone. For the most part, anyway. Those moments when she didn't know exactly what to say or felt the tiniest bit tongue tied were still there, but those were nothing she couldn't handle.

But either way, getting caught staring at those long, glorious legs made her cheeks tingle in a blush, but she didn't look away, "You know, you're not really allowed behind the bar, miss."

Callie gave her a cheeky smile, "I was when you had glass embedded in your hands."

Indignant, her mouth fell open, "That was to help me out! Now you're just trespassing."

She reached up, dragging her hands through black hair and pulling it into a high ponytail, "Nope, I'm helping you out, like I was that first time. I have no plans tonight and I want to spend some time with you, so it's a win/win, right?"

Her lips pursed in confusion, brow furrowing for a second as she followed what Callie was saying, "You… want to work here tonight?"

Now that confident look on Callie's face disappeared for just a second, "Well, yeah. I mean, I've never worked at a bar before. But I've been to a lot of them," she offered with a grin, her hands coming to clasp together in front of her.

Suddenly, the idea of Callie being in such close proximity, behind this bar, with her, all night was all she could think of, and she so wanted to let it happen, because even just the idea made her shitty outlook for the night infinitely better.

Squelching the part of her that was giddy, she bit the side of her lip, "I can't ask you to do that. It can get kind of busy in here on nights like these, and if you're not used to it, it can be kind of overwhelming."

Those long fingered caramel hands slid to land on curved hips, "All the more reason that you shouldn't have to be doing it alone. I might be a shitty bartender… but at least it'll be something, right?"

It'll be everything. The words played on the tip of her tongue, but she held them back, a slow smile taking over her face, "I mean, if you're sure… I _can_ do it alone; we've all done it before."

Callie simply walked over, ducking down, their bare knees bumping into each other as she reached into the box and pulled out two bottles, "I'm sure. Why do it alone when you don't have to? I can help prep now and clean up later… and I can follow directions fairly well," she added with a cheeky smile that made Arizona's heart race.

Grinning back, she tucked her hair behind her ear, nudging their knees together, "Luckily for you, I can give orders fairly well."

* * *

"Ugh," Callie groaned, leaning her head against the cool glass of the door to the bar that she just locked, "How do you do this every night?"

Arizona looked up with a small smile on her face, using a cloth in her hand to finish drying one of the glasses she had lined up, "Poor baby."

The way that full bottom lip poked out in a pout as the Latina walked back toward the bar and slid onto a stool that she had just swept around, resting her hands on the bar that Arizona had wiped down and then resting her cheek on her hands and closing her eyes gave off the look of adorable-ness that she so rarely saw in the stunning woman. And she really loved it. As Callie yawned, she said, "It's really great, that so many people came tonight."

"It is," she agreed, as she hung one of the cocktail glasses upside down. She hesitated before picking the next one up and reached out to stroke through the thick, soft dark hair on the top of her head, just once, before bringing her hand back down. She bit her lip, "Thank you so much for tonight. You've gone far above what any…" Date? Friend? She didn't know exactly what to refer to her as, "…one else I know would have done."

Because she had had to work the bar by herself before, as had Tim and Alex. Rarely, but even though it wasn't often, it made for long, tiring nights. And tonight she felt kind of strangely energized. It was as if the crappy afternoon and evening she'd had pulled a complete turnaround when Callie came around.

A wry smile came across her face, "I was happy to do what I could. But we both know it wasn't much. I would be such an awful bartender."

Arizona laughed, "No, you wouldn't."

Tired, chocolate eyes narrowed at her, "You blush when you lie." Callie propped her head up on her fist, lifting an eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure I was more of a hindrance than a help."

She knew that full well, and she knew that her cheeks were burning just a bit with the statement, but she maintained it and shook her head, "No, really. You've never worked in a bar; I didn't expect you to go Coyote Ugly in here. But you did fine. And doing fine when you don't have to be doing anything at all, is bumped up to great."

The blonde's dexterous hands flipped the glasses that she'd just dried in rapid succession, and Callie had to blink her tired eyes in order to keep up. That was something she'd noticed tonight; Arizona's hands. They moved quickly and knowingly. Her own hands – which she liked to think were pretty steady themselves – felt clumsy when she'd tried to keep up with the alcohol orders that had come steadily in.

She really liked those hands. And after their last date, after they'd actually been on her skin, she was dying to feel them on more places than just has ass. Like, all over her body. And in her body. Her quiet groan was easily stifled with a yawn – but those sparkling blue eyes peered up at her like they heard her.

"Callie, you have really done more than enough, and you're clearly exhausted. You should go home," once the last glass was in place and everything seemed like it was in it's rightful place, she tossed the cloth in her hands back and forth, looking at the Latina and she wanted to reach her hand out and run it over the dark circles under her eyes, trace over them softly as if she could make them disappear.

They weren't uncommon for her to see on her own face in the mirror or Tim's or Alex's – or anyone else that she knew. But for as far back in her memory as she could remember about Callie, she'd never had them. And she didn't like to see them, either. She liked knowing that Callie was well-rested and refreshed.

And that didn't mean working in the bar all night – "But before you go," she remembered, reaching under the counter to the stack of bills she'd put down there, "Don't forget your tips."

That made Callie quickly sit up, the alarm and question on her face making Arizona laugh, "I got tips? What, are those people crazy?"

She counted out the half of the money that belonged to the Latina for the evening – which was more than they made on normal nights – with a chuckle, sliding it across the counter to her, "Well, if I were an expert in working in the bar… which I am… I would suppose it might have something more to do with how good you look than your service."

A slight frown marred those features, "That just makes me feel wrong. And objectified."

Sighing, she nodded, using the cloth she'd used on the glasses for one last wipe down over the bar where Callie had just laid her head on, "It might be so, but that's life in the bar. Do you think I flirt for fun?" she asked with a wink. "Besides, when you're giving someone that smile, it's impossible to not be charmed. I am," she admitted with a shrug, keeping her eyes focused on the bar.

Callie lifted her eyebrows, a smile spreading across her face, "Well, that's good, because I want you to be charmed." And then the smile broke into another large yawn, her eyes watering, as she slid the money back over the bar, "But really, you take it."

Taking money from Arizona and the Just Cause when she was sitting on a trust fund made her feel inherently wrong. Especially as she'd heard the few snippets of conversation between Tim and Arizona about how much the piping was going to cost them.

And even though she and Arizona hadn't been seeing each other for very long, she instinctively knew that the blonde was a proud person – it wasn't that hard to see. She knew that Arizona wouldn't just accept her not taking the money, and just as steely blue eyes met hers, she lifted both hands up in surrender, "Arizona, we both know I didn't earn tips tonight. Come on, those are yours."

Thus far in their… dating relationship? Friendship? Friends and dating relationship? Whatever it was classified as, Arizona had been nothing but sweet and giving, and the firm set of her jaw when she slid the money back across the bar to her was very new. As was the tone of her voice, "Callie. _You_ worked here tonight. _We_ split tips at the end of the night. _You_ get half of the tips. And at the end of the week when I cut the checks, _you're_ going to get one for the hours you put in tonight."

"Arizona…" she was really at a loss for words, because she knew on the very basic level that she didn't need this money and while she was sure it wasn't going to break the Robbins bank to pay for her one night, she was equally sure that it wasn't right for her to take it, "I didn't really do anything tonight. We both know it. If anything, being on my feet and being dead tired _was_ my payment, getting ready for long med school hours and all," she joked.

And was met with an unamused lifting of a blonde eyebrow, "You're taking the tips. And you'll be taking a check. If you don't or argue with me anymore about it, I'm going to be really insulted."

It was kind of frightening just how serious serious Arizona was. It was also kind of frightening how much this unexpected commanding side of her turned Callie on. Slowly, she reached her hand out to take the money from the bar top and nodded, "Okay."

And as soon as that seriousness had arrived, it was replaced by a bright dimpled smile, "Super. Now that that's settled, you really should head home before you fall asleep on my bar."

She brought a hand up to cover her mouth before yet another yawn could escape – shit, she swore she had a problem – and she shook her head, "Nope, I'm going to drive you home, first. I noticed that you don't have a car parked outside?"

Arizona shrugged, folding the small cloth in her hand quickly before dropping into a bucket that contained the over fabrics that needed to be washed from throughout the night, "We live so close that we only ever drive here if there's bad weather."

The way Callie's eyebrows drew together so high on her forehead was comical, "You were planning on walking home at three in the morning by yourself? When I have a perfectly good car? Now _I'm_ insulted," she teased.

Arizona turned to retrieve the flowers that they'd put in a wide lipped water filled alcohol bottle, and Callie's purse that had been resting next to them, "Believe me, I remember just how perfectly good your car is. And you've convinced me; let's both get out of here." When she came around the bar, watching as Callie's eyes closed like they were blinking, and then stayed closed for a few more seconds, she unclipped the keys from where they were kept on a ring on Callie's bag, "How about I drive and make you some coffee before you go home?"

The slow way Callie nodded, her eyes blinking open, as she gave her a sexy sleepy smile, made those now familiar butterflies come into her stomach, and she imagined receiving that same smile as she woke up to Callie in her bed, dark hair sprawled all over her pillows, "Mm, sounds good."

The ride to her house was quick, and even so, Callie's breathing was already evening out and getting just a bit deeper. Turning in the driver's seat as she parked in the driveway, she lifted her hand and this time did trace her finger over the dark circle under Callie's eyes, whispering, "Hey, pretty lady. This isn't the time to fall asleep yet."

In response, Callie's hand came up to grip hers, pulling it away from her face and down so the back of it was resting on her thigh while their fingers remained entangled, and she sighed, "Five more minutes."

And as much she would like to give Callie five more minutes, she giggled a little and shook her head, "Come on, up and inside." Using the place where her hand was resting on warm skin to her advantage, she pressed into it, shaking a little until those dark eyes opened once more.

"Sorry," she got in response, that tired grin stealing her features as Callie went to unbuckle her seatbelt, "I hope you're going to make me one freakishly strong pot of coffee."

"Count on it," she promised, getting out of the car and grabbing the flowers from the backseat, before locking the car and handing the keys to Callie, who took them and tucked them into her purse.

Entering into the house, Callie let out a quiet, "hmm" as Arizona flicked on the foyer light, "I think this is the quietest I've heard it here."

Arizona laughed, tossing her key set into the small dish they had on a table next to the door, "That'll happen when all of the guys, including Max, are asleep. It's a very rare occurrence, though, so I wouldn't get used to it."

Sliding her purse off her shoulder and putting it on that same table, she chuckled, "All right, I figured. Um, can I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah," Arizona bit her lip for just a second before saying, "Uh, you should use the one that's off my bedroom, upstairs. The guys… sick…" she trailed off, a small grimace on her face, which made Callie laugh.

"Right, okay," she only took one step toward the stairs before pausing, "Which bedroom is yours?"

Arizona was already halfway toward the kitchen, turning to answer, "It's the first one on the left, right at the top of the stairs." Then she turned around completely, walking back, "Wait, can you bring these up?" she asked, handing out the flowers.

Callie accepted them, making her way up the stairs. Arizona watched her go for just a moment, before heading back to the kitchen. But when Callie didn't come back down in the next few minutes, she switched off the coffee pot, calling out, "Callie?"

When there was no response, she took the back stairs from the kitchen up and saw her bedroom door ajar, the light from inside streaming into the dark hallway. And as soon as she stepped inside, she felt a smile tug up at her lips.

Callie looked like she'd been sitting on the edge of her bed, and judging on the way the flowers were rearranged from the hasty way Arizona had fixed them up hours ago, the makeshift vase sitting on the bedside table, she assumed the Latina had rearranged them. And then had promptly fallen asleep, slumping over sideways onto her pillows.

Making her way over, she debated waking her up – she was sure Callie's plan for the night didn't include sleeping over at Casa de Robbins. But with the amount of times she'd already started to fall asleep, it would just be dangerous for Arizona to let her get up and drive home now, right? Letting her sleep was the right thing to do, and not only for the perverse pleasure she got from the knowledge that Callie Torres was currently sleeping in her bed.

Kneeling down, she struggled just a little bit to tug off those strappy sandals off of both of her feet, then tugged up her ankles to the foot of her bed. Well, dark hair was sprawled all over her pillows, but it definitely wasn't the way she thought it would be the first time she got Callie in her bed, she thought with a small smile, sitting on the edge of the bed and giving in to her urge to run her fingers through all that dark hair, gently tugging on the elastic that was holding up the messy ponytail.

In her sleep, the Latina turned into the gesture, letting out a small sigh that sounded like music to her ears. Stroking her fingers through some more, she let out her own sigh, that was filled with much more negativity than Callie's, because she really shouldn't be sitting on the edge of her bed, running her hands through all that dark hair, while Callie slept soundly. What she _should_ do was get up and go sleep on the couch.

But Callie's breathing, now completely deep and even, was warm against the outside of her thigh and her face snuggled in close to Arizona's skin… she would wait just a little longer before getting up, she decided.

It was only a few hours later that she woke up again, startled by the sudden sound of a snore. For just a moment, she wondered what was going on and what felt different, before she blinked against the slats of light came in through the windows, illuminating all of the tanned skin that was revealed by the way Callie lay in her bed, still dressed in her outfit from last night.

And as it turned out, the Latina was apparently a bed hog; Arizona's full size bed was more than big enough to fit her comfortably and was a nice enough size for her to share with women in the past. Women who liked to snuggle or women who liked to sleep hardly touching, she'd shared her bed with both kinds.

But Callie was neither; she was on her stomach in the middle of the bed, one arm and one leg thrown out with her hand and foot dangling over the left side. Arizona was on the edge of the mattress on the right side, after having apparently been moved and pushed throughout the night by the goddess next to her.

And while maybe she might have been slightly irked by nearly been tossed out of her own bed, she couldn't possibly bring herself be, because Callie's other leg was hooked around her waist, while her arm was wrapped around Arizona, just under her breasts, her hand tucked snugly between Arizona's back and the mattress. Somehow, Callie had managed to steal her entire bed, while also keeping her snug in it on the edge at the same time.

She thought it might be strange how much she was enjoying it, too. And maybe she could get up and go to the couch, now, so Callie didn't wake up disoriented, in a strange bedroom, with Arizona in bed with her. Sighing, she thought it was probably for the best.

But as soon as she tried to gently tug her way out of Callie's abnormally strong one arm, one leg hold on her, the grip tightened, and Callie's body rolled from it's sprawling position to come in closer to hers, and she sighed, "Stay."

So, blue eyes closed again, as she remained on the precarious edge of the bed, and she stayed.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for all of your feedback so far. You guys are awesome. Thank you for reading. Also... this story will probably be a few more chapters than I've planned so far; it just keeps growing every time I open the outline.  
**


	8. A Start To A Good Day I

_June 1_

While the amount of things that Callie had gained from her two and a half years in Botswana outweighed the amount of things that she'd missed by _a lot_, the fact did remain that there were things that she had greatly missed. One such thing was sharing a bed with someone else.

However, as consciousness first took a hold of her mind, she was a bit confused as to the location of the bed she was sharing with this someone else. Because this was definitely not her bed; she could sprawl out eagle spread on her bed in any direction and still have her entire body on the mattress. However, where she was right now, she had both a hand and a foot dangling off the edge.

And she always slept with the covers pulled up almost completely covering her face – much like the same way she'd found her sister sleeping a week ago, and right now, she could tell by the air conditioned chilled air on her skin that there wasn't even a sheet covering her.

Blinking her eyes open, she narrowed them at the onslaught of light coming in, using the hand that had been hanging off the bed to cover her eyes, before turning her head and seeing tousled, curly golden hair on the pillow next to hers. The sight made her smile, and she rolled onto her side.

Arizona was curled into the fetal position, practically on the edge of the mattress, and she knew that was her fault. Despite the fact that she didn't _mean_ to do it – hell, she hadn't even meant to fall asleep in the blonde's bed – she inevitably spread out in her sleep, and more than once had knocked her bed partners out. And generally, once she'd knocked those suckers out of bed, she did not let them back in.

But she subconsciously had kept a hold around Arizona throughout the night. They were both still dressed in the clothes they'd worn last night, meaning that her slim, lightly tanned legs were on display, the cutoff jean shorts revealing so much of those legs that she'd spent such a great deal of time in the last weeks thinking about. And the baby blue tank top that perfectly matched her eyes had straps that were slightly askew, and the bottom had ridden up just a little bit, revealing a few inches of the creamy skin of her stomach.

She desperately wanted to touch that skin. Morning sex was her absolute favorite kind of sex. At least, it used to be. All right, so she liked sex during all times of the day, and really, at this point of going for so long without, she was certain that any time of day sex would blow her mind. Especially any time of day sex with Arizona.

Without thinking, she pulled up her hand that was hooked around Arizona's back, as it was starting to get that pins and needles feeling, and just when it was too late and she realized what exactly that action would mean, Arizona was already starting to tumble off the side of the bed.

Alarmed blue eyes opened in panic as she blonde started to move, and Callie tried to grab at her, to help stabilize her to stop the pending fall. Arizona's hands also flung out, grasping, but only managed to get a hold on a pillow before it truly was too late, and brown eyes closed tightly in a wince as Arizona fell to the floor of her bedroom with an audible _thump_, followed by a low groan.

Biting her lip, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, crawling to look over the edge at Arizona, whose sleepy, bleary, confused eyes were blinking up at her in a daze. And those eyes combined with all of that disheveled hair and a prominent pout on pink lips while smooth bare arms held tightly onto the pillow she'd grabbed on the way down made for probably the most adorable vision she'd ever seen.

Unable to stop a smile, she offered her hand down to Arizona, who in turn just let out a, "Mmmh, what?"

Now she laughed, just as Arizona slid her hand into Callie's and she pulled, helping Arizona back to stand, pillow still clinging to her chest, "I, um, moved a little bit and you fell out of your bed. I'm sorry." But, god, she was so cute, Callie had trouble really meaning the apology at all.

"S'okay," she mumbled back, and reached down to pull down her comforter before sliding into the warm bed instead of on top of it, firmly situating herself into the middle this time, "Back to sleep," Arizona's words blurred sleepily together and then she sighed. Even though her eyes were closed, she put her hand down and patted the area of the bed next to her, inviting Callie to go back to sleep with her.

And then her hand movements slowed and stopped, and her breathing was back in it's slow, deep rhythm, and she knew that Arizona had just fallen back asleep. Grinning, she reached her hand out and smoothed back some of those blonde curls from her forehead to behind her ear, the strands feeling like silk beneath her fingertips.

The clock beside Arizona's bed read 8:02, which meant that she'd had maybe a little more than five hours of sleep; her body was tired, but there was no way she'd be able to go back to dozing off. Before the Peace Corps, she used to sleep in until the afternoon and stay awake until sunrise. But when she was working in Africa, she'd had duties to fulfill and a job to do, which required her to wake up early, every day for over two years.

And as demonstrated by last night, she now could barely stay awake past a certain time late at night, and her internal clock was now set, alarm ready to go off early in the morning. When she was at home, she couldn't sleep until past seven, so, really, this was late for her, even.

But she remembered Arizona mentioning last week about how she normally slept until nearly noon on nights that she was closing the bar, because she didn't get home until around three in the morning. Much like the night before, or should she say earlier in the morning?

Even so, she liked the feeling of lying in Arizona's bed. Cuddling with someone was something she hadn't done in… too fucking long, and the blonde just looked so welcoming. And it would be even better now that she _wasn't_ going to fall asleep, because then they actually would snuggle rather than her kicking Arizona out of her own bed.

Just before she could scoot under the covers at the blonde's sleepy request, she turned her head back to the clock, and as it glared back 8:05 at her. And she was supposed to be at a meeting with the caterers for the annual beginning of the summer soiree her parents put on every year in less than an hour.

"Shit. Shit, shit shit," she whispered, before she clapped her hand over her mouth as Arizona stirred a little bit. Less than an hour to get home, shower, change, and get to the caterers. She was definitely going to be late.

As the blonde settled onto her side, sighing a little in her sleep, Callie regretfully slid out of the bed, before tripping over the sandals she'd worn last night. "Fuck," she grunted, as this time _she_ fell on the floor. Biting her lip, she peeked over her shoulder to see that she was still asleep, before she snatched the shoes up with a glare.

Before she tripped over them, they had been placed nicely to the side; Arizona must have taken them off for her last night, because she didn't even remember going to sleep, let alone take off her footwear. There was an adorable, sweet, sexy woman who let her sleep in her bed – welcoming her even after she'd kicked her onto the floor, literally – and she was leaving to meet with a caterer instead of cuddling with the possibility of a late morning bed make out. The likes of which she hadn't experienced in years. Actual years.

She tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs in a hurry, already forming a plan for the rest of her day in her mind.

* * *

Arizona walked down the stairs later that morning with a prominent scowl on her face. It wasn't often that she woke up utterly grumpy, but this morning she couldn't help it. She'd woken up slowly, reaching her hand out and expecting to encounter a soft, warm body, and her mind was already forming hazy, sleepy plans of a good morning involving her and Callie in her bed. Wondering how far they might take things, and if her hands would enter the promise land of inside of Callie's bra again, much like it had after their second date, when they'd parked in her driveway after leaving the Pucker-Up Point.

Instead, her hand rested on her cool comforter, and she blinked her eyes open in confusion. Because there was no longer a soft, warm body in her bed to have a good morning with. Her room had been completely Callie-free.

She wondered why Callie hadn't left her a note or even texted her, and then she rolled her eyes at herself. Because obviously, she didn't have to do any of that. Callie was a grown woman with her own life, and she didn't have to check in with Arizona after they'd slept in her bed together. It wasn't like they'd had sex and then Callie had snuck off without saying goodbye; it didn't _mean_ anything. They were just two women who were dating and had happened to have slept in the same bed, fully clothed, for one night. It really wasn't a big deal at all.

Except, it kind of was to her. Maybe not necessarily a big deal but she had wanted it to mean… something. Even just the beginning of a day together. But on the most basic, intrinsic level, she'd been wanting to wake up to Callie Torres for as long as she could remember. And the fact that she'd had that morning right in her grasp, and it never happened was enough to sour her mood in and of itself.

And on top of that, her butt kind of hurt from where she hazily recalled falling out of bed onto it. Plus, her eyes burned after sleeping with her contacts in. So, all-in-all, it wasn't that great of a day thus far, and it was only noon.

She started shuffling her way into the kitchen, lulled in by the scent of coffee. Which was odd, because both Alex and Tim made absolutely horrible tasting coffee and usually waited for her to make it. Making her way to the coffee maker, she reached for the pot, then frowned when she held it up, empty.

Because she definitely smelled coffee.

"I think you might be looking for this," came Callie's voice from behind her, making her jump.

She couldn't help the surprised, but pleased tone of her voice as she spun on her heel, "You're still here." And then she ran her eyes up and down, her eyebrows drawing down in confusion, "Or not." Because Callie was not wearing the same ensemble that she remembered the taller woman wearing as she climbed into bed with her.

"Not," Callie confirmed with a smile, walking forward with a travel mug of coffee and offering it to her, "I left this morning after I knocked you out of your bed and Tim let me back in less than five minutes ago," she admitted, biting her lip as blue eyes fell to the cup in her hands, "I had some appointments," she explained as Arizona brought her hands up to take it from her, purposefully skimming her fingers against the tan ones.

Arizona's eyebrows shot up in confusion as she ran her eyes down Callie's body, "You don't look like you had… appointments. You look…" she trailed off, feeling her cheeks heat just a bit – why didn't she ever keep her commentary to herself?

But really, if Callie wore a thin strapless black dress that hugged her breasts and then flowed down to her mid-thigh while the straps from a red bikini were pulled up and tied on the back of her neck, then Arizona imagined that every person in a hundred mile radius would be flocking to have an appointment with her.

Such a thin red tie… holding up those glorious, glorious breasts that she had still yet to see. And she really, really wanted to. Her throat ran dry just thinking about it, and then when Callie cleared her throat, she looked up at her, meeting amused brown eyes and she could feel her blush get even worse, as Callie prompted, "I look?"

Clearing her throat, she shook her head just a little bit to knock herself out of the stupor she was in thinking about Callie in her bikini, "You look really…" _hot. I want to see you without the dress. And the bikini._ And it was with great effort that she shrugged, "Professional."

The sexy smirk that had been on Callie's face dropped and she looked down at herself, "You're absolutely right; this is actually what I wore to my meetings."

"I'm sure who you had meetings with really appreciated that. Much like I appreciate you coming back wearing it," she ran her eyes down again then back up, lingering on her smile as she took a sip of the coffee.

The moan Arizona let out at the taste made Callie one hundred percent positive – if she hadn't been already – that she was just going to have to have sex with Arizona Robbins. Preferably soon. She missed and wanted sex so badly, that simply hearing a moan made her more than ready.

All right, the moan and the fact that it was combined with what Arizona looked like at that moment. She'd changed out of the jean shorts and tank top she'd worn yesterday and slept in, and was now freshly showered. And freshly showered Arizona apparently also meant damp hair that was curling wildly, smelling like heaven, and she didn't have her contacts in, so those ocean eyes that were currently closed in the pleasure of the caffeinated beverage, were behind her black thickly framed glasses.

Glasses that she used to find, the last time she'd seen Arizona with them on, kind of dorky. A little geeky. They fit the image that she used to associate with Arizona Robbins. And now… they still fit the image she currently associated with Arizona Robbins. A little geeky and a lot sexy.

Taking a deep breath, she took the last sip of her own coffee, silently trying to tell her libido to calm the fuck down. But there was really only so much she could do in order to tell herself to calm down when it had been a very long, as the count was at now, twenty-nine months.

Placing her own now empty mug on the counter next to them, "Good, right?"

Arizona's eyes opened again, and she nodded, "Callie, it's absolutely freaking amazing. Where did you buy this?"

She chuckled, "I didn't. It's Thomas' own blend," and when she received a blank look, she bit her lip, "Thomas, he's my parents' chef."

After another sip, Arizona raised her eyebrows, "Ah. Right." Giving her a dimpled smile, she winked, "Well, you can tell Thomas that this is the best coffee I've ever had."

A sly smile spread across her face, "Good, because that's my thank you for letting me sleep in your bed," she nodded toward the cup, before Arizona's sudden, sharp laugh drew her attention. She found herself grinning in response, just because the petite woman's intense laughter was infectious.

But Arizona must have noticed her confusion, because she shook her head, before pressing her hand against her stomach, "No, it's just…" she let out a sigh, some more giggles coming out before she managed to continue, "You're _thanking_ _me_ for _letting you_ sleep in my bed. With me." Another laughing sigh was released as she tipped her head back to drink some more of the coffee, "I'll just say that a thank you is really, completely unnecessary." Her eyes sparkled in amusement as she added on, "I'll take this as a token of apology for knocking me on my ass."

Lifting her eyebrows, she shrugged, keeping her voice light as her fingertips tapped on the counter next to her empty cup, "Well, I was hoping that you would be free today, and I could take you to the beach as my apology for that. Hence my _professional_ wardrobe choice."

Plus, seeing Arizona in her own bikini was something Callie and her already on overdrive libido very much wanted to see.

The smile that was already on her face widened and Arizona nodded quickly, "Yes! I am so free today. At least until later tonight, for the bar. But this afternoon, absolutely. You know, I haven't been to the beach at all since the fall," she frowned just thinking about it. She usually loved the beach.

Excitement raced through Callie, and she bounced up on her tiptoes briefly before touching back down, "I haven't been since before Botswana. Mmm, I can't wait." When Arizona tipped her head back to chug the remainder of her coffee, she held up her hand with a chuckle, "I can wait a little bit, slow down."

But Arizona shook her head, putting her mug onto the counter, her mind already visualizing Callie on the nearly white sand, peeling that dress over her head, revealing loads of smooth, caramel skin. And she didn't want to wait any longer than necessary, "Nope, I'm ready to go."

They both took a moment to move their eyes down her body, taking in her loose, worn Just Cause shirt and the boxer shorts she'd put on that were barely visible at the bottom of her shirt, and Arizona rolled her eyes, "So, I'm not _ready_ ready. But I will be as soon as I change."

"All right, while you're up there, I'll take care of the mugs," especially because she needed to make sure that the travel mug that had contained Arizona's coffee – which she'd sniped because it was one of the only other ones they had available – was back before Aria wanted to use it.

She was already at the sink, pouring dish soap onto the sponge, before Arizona came up next to her and nudged her hip, "Hey, you brought the coffee, you don't do the dishes."

Callie lifted the already soapy cup up, "Too late!"

As she rinsed it, Arizona reached over to take a cloth, offering, "I'll dry."

It barely took a minute to have them both done, and before she could turn off the water, she scratched the tip of her nose, which made Arizona laugh. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "What?"

The way Arizona bit her lip and looked away for just a second before darting her eyes back to her nearly killed her, and then she giggled again, "You just scratched, and you have soap on – here," she finished, lifting her hand and rubbing the tip of Callie's nose and getting the soap off of her, before cheekily grinning and bringing up her other hand that she must have swiped into the soapy dish soap and smearing soap on Callie's chin, "Oh, you've got a little bit more now."

She lifted her eyebrow in challenge, "Oh, I have soap on my chin? Well, you have some too. Right there," she swipes some bubbles from the water and smears them on Arizona's, who then came up to wipe more on her. "Uh uh," she countered, grasping her wrist with one hand, and maneuvering so she trapped Arizona's body between her own and the sink.

Arizona's laugh caught in her throat as soon as it registered how close they were, and she looked up, swallowing hard. Slowly, Callie wrapped a curly lock of blonde hair around her finger, tucking it behind her ear, before drawing her hand down, over the soft skin of her neck, leaning in closer.

Just as the shorter woman's deliciously faint moan vibrated against her lips, just as she was about to move in the last few centimeters, Tim's voice appeared from behind them, "House rules, Z! House rules!"

Their heads sprang back, the trance of the moment between them broken as he chuckled lightly and opened the fridge a few feet away.

Arizona's hand, the one that had _just_ rested on Callie's hip, about to slide onto her lower back and then possibly down to cup that ass, as she'd been waiting to do again, tensed into a fist before she lifted it up to flip her brother off, and then let it fall back to her side, lightly banging it on the counter behind her. Just as she let out a groan, he laughed, closing the fridge and walking back down the hall.

As much as her insides already felt all tangled up in want, and their lips had hardly even brushed, Callie couldn't help but let out a low laugh, especially at the adorable – yet apt – glare on Arizona's face, "Out of curiosity, for possible future reference, what are the other house rules?"

Blue eyes, already slightly darkened, looked into hers. This close, only a handful of inches away, she could see the indigo ring around the edge of them. Sighing, she leaned back just a bit and brought her hand up to push up her frames that had slipped down in the last few minutes. Arizona sent her a grateful smile, before bringing up her own hand and scooping it through her hair, "Let's see." She narrowed her eyes in thought, "No sex in the foyer. No sex in the kitchen. No sex in the upstairs hallway. No sex in the bathroom without a locked door –"

An amused chuckle came from full lips, and Callie's perfect eyebrows arched, "Gotta have that locked door."

She threw her a grin, with a one shoulder shrug, "Exactly, that one was my idea. Let's see… no bodily fluids on the couch, no porn is ever to be left lying around outside of a bedroom, and," she hesitated to build up the tension, before finishing with a flourish, "The person who has the night off from the bar has the responsibility of cleaning the house."

Callie nodded, her mind already racing with all of the possibilities that left them with in the future. Hopefully the near future, "All very logical rules. And mostly focused on sex."

"You know, every single one of them exists for a reason," she grimaced at the images that she, to this day, couldn't get out of her head of both her brother and Alex and various women over the years. They were burned into her mind, and several of them not nearly in the awesome way her close encounters with Callie were.

Brown eyes narrowed at her, "I'm positive Tim and Alex aren't the only causes for those rules." In fact, her eyes roamed Arizona's hair that was now almost completely dried – curlier than she'd expected it to be – and those damn glasses, she was completely sure of it.

Arizona's blush was fading, though a pink tinge remained lightly as she managed a small smile, "You'd probably be right."

Her eyes closed, and she shook her head, her voice tight as her heart beat just a little faster, "Talking about you having sex really doesn't make it easier to not want to have sex with you." And she didn't exactly want to hear about Arizona's past with women. Much like the night of their first date, weeks ago, hearing the rules about where the blonde wasn't allowed to take her because of her taking other women there made Callie want to take her in those places all the more badly.

And she hadn't even had her once yet.

The shorter woman released a shuddering breath that washed over her lips, and prompted her to take a full step back, as Arizona sighed, running her tongue over her bottom lip, "Well, you know, we both could have been in my bed this morning…" she trailed off, and a devious smile that Callie had yet to see from her before crossed her lips.

Shaking her head, she crossed her arms, "Arizona… just get upstairs and get ready to go," she directed. Because she knew that Arizona was all about not rushing them. And honestly, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered why she _didn't_ just cancel with the caterers this morning to stay in bed with her.

All right, so her mother would have been pissed off because it would have screwed things up with a business she'd been working with for years, but Callie was willing to bet it would have been worth her mother's wrath. So, so worth it, she thought, muffling a groan. "Oh, and I already packed a cooler and towels and beach chairs. We're going to the area that's down the street from my house; have you ever been there?"

Of course, living in Miami meant they were rife with many different beaches and locations to enjoy the sea. And Callie had frequented many of them. But her favorite would always be the one in the neighborhood she'd grown up in. Plus, it was bound to be less crowded than the nearest beach to Arizona's house.

Blonde eyebrows rose on her forehead as she took in her question, nodding, "Yeah… once or twice." Before Arizona left the room, though, she turned back to give her a small smile, a blush rising on her cheeks, even as she admitted, "Do you want to know a funny story?"

She nodded, putting both of her hands up on the counter behind her and leaning back, "Absolutely."

Then Arizona paused and shook her head, "Uh, never mind. It's… never mind," she muttered, the blush on her cheeks becoming an even deeper red before she turned back toward the doorway, "I'll be right back down!"

Feeling like she was missing out, she called back, "Don't think you're getting away with that! I want to hear the funny story!"

Today was going to be a good day. She could already feel it.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Your thoughts and opinions so far are greatly appreciated, and thank you for reading!**


	9. A Perfect Day II

_June 1_

"This look like a good place to settle?" Callie asked, gesturing at the sun warmed pale sand, where there was no one else around for over twenty feet on all sides. Well, she gestured as good as she could, with both of her hands holding up the full cooler she had packed, while Arizona's own arms were lifting two lounge chairs and towels.

Honestly, Arizona couldn't care less where they decided to make their little camp for the day; this private beach was practically empty compared to the one that she frequented, that was somewhat cramped on nice days like this, "Yeah, this looks good to me."

Callie groaned, dropping the cooler, "Good, that was a lot heavier than I thought it was."

She grinned, setting up one chair, and then the other, then laying out a towel on each one, "I offered to carry it."

A slanting of one of those perfectly arched eyebrows looked back at her, a dry smile on Callie's face, "And that's how I was supposed to romance you today? Making you do the heavy lifting?"

There was a witty retort on the tip of her tongue about how little effort Callie really would have to put in to romance her, but it fell back down her throat as those tan hands went to the bottom of her dress, lifting it over her head. Lust ran through her, hitting her like a freight train as inch of glorious inch of caramel skin was revealed.

The red bikini had ties on either hip – so, so easy to take right off, she thought – and hugged that voluptuous ass just… perfectly. The very bottom of her butt was revealed, and it made Arizona _hunger_ to touch. Then the turned back to face her, and blue eyes moved up to try to make eye contact, before getting stuck on those breasts. Covered by little triangles of fabric, supporting that full, heavy chest in the skimpiest way.

She knocked herself out of her own stupor with a soft whimper, making her shake her head, before making eye contact with Callie, whose face was lit up in what she thought was a combination of amusement and satisfaction, "See something you like?" she teased.

Arizona swallowed hard before sending back her own smile, "See many things I like," she corrected. Internally, she named them. Breasts. Butt. Legs. Hips. Arms. Shoulders.

The smile on the brunette's face grew even larger, "Good. I'm glad," her voice was smoky and low and god – it sounded so good. Feeling warm, not just from the sun, she watched as Callie ducked down to retrieve the sun block in her bag, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head as her butt was just calling out to her for attention.

Forcing herself to turn away, she gripped the hem of her tank top and lifted it over her head before pushing down her shorts.

Sunblock in hand, Callie turned back to face Arizona, smile still on her face at the feeling she'd gotten from when the shorter woman had been so clearly checking her out – and not even embarrassed by it – and then she froze, while her heart started to jackhammer in her chest.

The breasts that she'd felt in her hands – what felt like forever ago, but was only a week – were encased in a light blue bikini top that pressed those already perky boobs up, creating cleavage that was salivate-worthy. And salivate, she practically was. Then she was certain she was, as her eyes roved lower, over that taut stomach, and settled on her tight, tight ass.

Good fucking god, she didn't know if coming to the beach was the best idea she'd ever had for the two of them or the worst, considering how torturous it was going to be to be around Arizona in that bikini all day.

Definitely the best idea, her brain answered itself, as Arizona lifted both arms up and scooped up the blonde waves into a ponytail, looking out at the waves that were crashing up onto shore, commenting, "The water looks really nice today."

But she might as well have been speaking Swahili for all Callie knew, because the way she held her body as her hands tamed her hair made her back arch and she found herself fascinated by the shifting of her shoulder blades as her arms moved. What a strange thing to be fascinated by, she knew, but she just wanted to plant her lips there and then move them gradually farther down her back and then scrape her teeth –

"See something you like?" Arizona asked, her tone mirroring Callie's from moments ago.

She moved her gaze up to meet the blonde's, answering, "I see many things I like." Biting her lip, she offered the bottle in her hand to Arizona, "Do my back?"

"Only if you do mine," the words left her mouth, but she'd already taken the bottle from her, because Arizona was not going to give up the opportunity to touch that body.

Arizona was already squirting the lotion onto her palms and rubbing them together as Callie turned to face the opposite direction, "Deal."

All of that delicious tanned skin, hers to touch, for now. Slowly, she started at the top, working her fingers over the slope of her shoulders before slowly dragging them down, reveling in the feeling of how her skin felt underneath her palms and in the way Callie softly hummed. She moved her hands slowly, until she covered every inch of skin on that long back, a small sigh escaping her when it was all done.

And then Callie sighed, turning around, her face flushed, before reaching for the sunblock herself, and Arizona commented, even though her throat felt a little dry, "SPF 15… I usually go for something around 80."

But she really didn't care what the hell SPF it was, she was just anxious for Callie's hands on her body, and she turned to present her back. When Callie hesitated, and apologized, "Shit, I didn't really take into account the difference in skin tone… we can go up to the little store up the shore a little and get something better –"

She turned her head, giving her an incredulous look, "Callie, I was kidding. This is fine." A day in the beach usually resulted in a little sunburn for her no matter what, and putting sunblock on had never been such an anxiously awaited activity.

Then strong, warm hands were on her, starting on her lower back and pushing in, in a gentle massage that she nearly moaned at. Those fingers worked into her muscles, working farther and farther up, until they rested on the slope of where her shoulders met her neck, and even though she knew she was covered, Callie's hands didn't drop away, and she didn't want them to.

And just as they did, she felt soft lips press against her shoulder blade, making butterflies swirl in her stomach – but it was so light and brief, she thought for a moment that she was imagining it. Eyebrows lifted in confusion, her cheeks now the ones that were flushed, she turned back around.

She definitely wasn't imagining anything, as Callie's cheeks were bright red, "I just… wanted…" and then the explanation trailed off because there really wasn't one beyond, "I wanted."

A disarming dimpled smile made it's way onto Arizona's face and she reached up, tucking her hand lightly into dark hair before leaning in and giving into one of her most basic wants, pressing her lips against those full soft ones that had just been on her back. The touch was just as light and brief, but it didn't fail to make both of their mouths tingle.

"I wanted, too," she explained, reaching for the discarded sunblock again so she could go over the rest of her body as a brilliant smile was sent her way.

Callie watched with interest as Arizona quickly made work of covering the rest of her body, in less time than either of them had taken on each other's backs, before she tossed the bottle back into the bag that was resting on Callie's chair, bringing her hands to rest on her hips, "So what do you want to do? Swim? Build a sand castle?" she asked with a joking tone, then she narrowed her eyes, "I bet you're someone who lounges and tans. It's what all the pretty, popular, privileged girls do."

Callie's mouth fell open in mock insult, but it quickly faded into a tight grin, even while she narrowed her eyes, "It's called sunbathing. But I do go into the water," she added, nudging Arizona with her elbow. They started walking down toward the waves as she asked, "So what do _you_ do at the beach?"

They walked close enough so that their arms consistently pressed against one another, and Arizona shrugged, "Well, I'm usually here with Tim and Alex. And in that event, they like to play sports. Tossing the football or some baseball. Mostly, I just like to swim."

Drawing closer to the water, before Arizona could dive right in – because Callie neglected to say that her version of going into the water was usually to go in _slowly_ up until it hit her waist – she took her by the hand, enjoying how the blonde's immediately flipped upwards to tangle with hers, "So tell me... what is the funny story about you coming to this beach before?"

Arizona felt her face heat up rapidly, as she shook her head, "Umm, nope."

"Tell me!" Callie demanded, as they stepped into the light crashing of the waves onto the sand, the water washing up over their feet, random flecks hitting up to their knees.

Arizona's lips curled up in a small smile, charging forward into the surf and taking Callie with her, "I'm not telling you, so you should just give up asking."

She was pulled to a stop by the taller woman, whose big brown eyes were purposefully widened even bigger as she begged, "You can't just tease me with saying that you have a funny story and not actually tell it to me!"

Bringing her hand up to her chin in faux-contemplation, she tilted her head up to the sky, "I think that I can."

Those eyes narrowed into a glare, and Callie tugged her in so that their bodies were nearly touching, before disentangling her hand and running both of them lightly up Arizona's sides, making her gasp lightly. Those wet fingers slid up her still dry torso, stopping at the bottom of her bikini, on the sides of her breasts, before sliding back down, dipping under the water to the top of her bikini bottoms.

And then her fingers skated back and forth over the skin there, fingertips gliding just under the waistline, knocking all of the breath out of her lungs, "Holy shit," she whispered, her body instinctively arching into the touch, and those fingers were only legitimately inches away from the area of her body that was now so ready to be really touched.

Shuddering, she bit her lip and narrowed her eyes back at Callie before stepping in closer and wrapping her arms around that curvy waist, surprising the brunette, both of their bodies singing at the contact as their bare stomachs rubbed against each other.

And then, with a secure hold, she threw herself backwards, knocking them both off-balance and submerging them under water. She thought it might have been instinctive that Callie's arms wrapped around her own waist as a wave crashed over them, but either way, she very much enjoyed it.

Plus, the water somewhat dimmed the rampant arousal that was running through her at Callie's touches… all right, so it barely did, but she would admit that she liked the feeling.

She was pulled upright fairly, quickly, though, and she opened her eyes to a sputtering Callie, which was just so adorable she couldn't help but grin, lifting her hand and pushing back dark wet hair that was now completely tousled from the water.

Dark eyes glared at her, but the strong arms around her waist only tightened, "That. Was an unfair tactic."

Her mouth fell open, "Mine was an unfair tactic? You were – your hand – your fingers were…!"

Then a slow smile came up to Callie's face, "Fine. But I'm still not letting you go until you've told me the story."

Arizona didn't see the move coming, and then Callie's hands slid down, grasping the backs of her thighs and forcing Arizona's legs up around her waist. And any way her arousal had been dimmed was diminished because it was now ramped back up tenfold, and she locked her ankles, "Uh, you know, this really doesn't seem like a punishment to me."

It seemed much more like a reward.

"Well this way you can't dunk me again or swim away," those strong hands tightened on her thighs once more, like it was a warning – as if she was going to go anywhere when she was legitimately wrapped around Callie Torres at her urging – before coming to rest on her lower back. And then Callie came in closer, her breath washing over her damp ear, "And I was planning on some extremely inappropriate for public making out today, but this is as much as you're going to get."

Slipping her hands up and around her shoulders, she dropped her forehead to one, closing her eyes tightly as she felt her cheeks heat up, "Callie… it's not so much a funny story as it is a really sad and pathetic one."

"I want to hear it," she insisted, drawing one of her hands up the line of Arizona's spine, making her back arch.

Lifting her head again, blue eyes met brown, and she was completely serious as she lifted her eyebrows, "All right. But you're going to judge me and you might even be a little afraid of me."

"Just _tell_ me!" those hands ran down again, as Callie started walking deeper into the water.

Rolling her eyes, she pressed her hands against her cheeks, hoping it would stop giving away her blush, "Fine. I – in high school, at the end of our sophomore year, I came here to see you."

Callie was quiet for a moment before a smile broke out over her face, "You came here to see me in a bikini? You little perv."

She made it sound like such an easy little thing. Like Arizona hadn't forced Alex to walk to this beach with her, because it was before either of them had their licenses, walked over six miles in the Miami humid summer heat, to come to this beach where the two of them – the non-rich kids with their glasses and braces and acne – stuck out like sore thumbs on the beach in the affluent neighborhood. And it wasn't just to see Callie in a bikini, even though that had been an incredible bonus. Her voice was small, and her eyes focused mostly on the water droplets that had formed on Callie's clavicle, "It wasn't just to see you in a bathing suit. It… during the summers, I, uh, I missed you."

Part of her expected for Callie to be staring at her like she was a stalker, which was why she kept her head down for a few more seconds. But it was the bare truth – she might have admitted to Callie that she'd had a crush on her, but in all reality, she'd been in love with her. She didn't think it was real, adult love… but it was as much as one fifteen-year-old could have for another one.

But instead of the hands on her back letting go, she grasped tighter, "That isn't a funny story. And it doesn't make me scared of you, Arizona. I think it's really sweet."

Lifting an eyebrow, she looked up, "You think me stalking you at the beach is sweet?" and she couldn't keep the dry tone out of her own voice.

Brown eyes rolled at her, "Shut up. You weren't a stalker; you had a crush. I had boys do things like come here and find me on the beach all of the time. And they were always only in it to get in my pants. You were sweet. You _are_ sweet." It was something she was really enjoying about Arizona. The blonde was clearly sweet, clearly caring, and it kind of made Callie wish that she'd recognized her own sexual fluidity in high school, "Come on, teenage Arizona would have been charming. You'd have been a much better person to date than the people I actually dated."

Now she was just making her even more embarrassed, but she couldn't take her eyes away from where they connected with hers, a small smile coming up onto her lips, "Yeah?"

Callie licked her lips, "No doubt about it."

They both leaned back in, and Arizona's nerves felt like they were burning anticipation as they made contact. It wasn't light and brief this time; she flicked her tongue out, running it over Callie's bottom lip, and was granted access quickly.

Tongues dueled, and Callie's hands slid lower, cupping her ass, and forcing her to grind against her stomach, which made Arizona's clit start to pulse. Breaking away from Callie's mouth, she ran her lips down her neck, sucking and nipping, while her hands sought purchase on her back, her hips still moving against the brunette.

A powerful wave came up, knocking Callie back a few steps, then making her stumble, and tip backwards. This time when they emerged, Arizona wiped the water out of her eyes, "I would say that that qualifies as a slightly inappropriate public make out."

Callie's eyes narrowed playfully, "That was a baby make out. You ain't seen nothing yet."

* * *

By the time they pulled up in front of Arizona's house late in the afternoon, she was already longing to go back to the warm sand. She would much rather prolong this day with Callie than go to work at the bar, and she sighed, hesitating before releasing her seatbelt, "Do you want to come in for…"

She didn't really know what to offer. They'd had an incredible lunch that Callie had packed away, as well as an entire pitcher of freshly made strawberry lemonade, and she just let the unfinished question linger in the air.

Thankfully, it didn't linger too long before that radiant smile took over the brunette's face, "Yes, absolutely. I can hang out until you have to leave for the bar?"

"Sounds good to me," she nodded, and hopped out of the car, waiting for Callie to make her way out before they started up the walkway. It didn't even matter that she would have to leave to get ready to open in less than a half hour, she thought, as Callie's hand reached out and intertwined itself with hers.

By the time they reached the front door, she reached her hand out, then was confused as it was locked, "Tim and Alex should be home…" she muttered, shaking the handle, as sometimes it got stuck. But it definitely wasn't stuck, and she dropped Callie's hand to reach into her pocket and slip the key into the lock, "Weird."

Before she could turn the knob, Callie reached up, one of her hands cupping Arizona's jaw, her other coming up to swipe lightly down her nose, "You have a sunburn."

She brought her own up, rubbing across the heated skin, and shrugged, "I didn't expect to come out of a beach day unscathed," she joked, but Callie still frowned.

"Should have gotten the better SPF," she muttered, making Arizona laugh, bringing up her hand to take the one Callie had against her.

"It's really fine. I always get sunburned at the beach, no matter what SPF. Now come on."

Callie sighed behind her, "You'd think after living in the Miami sun for over ten years, you wouldn't still get sunburns so easily."

She turned back around to skim her eyes over the golden brown tone of Callie's skin, just the tone of it, the way it had darkened in only one day, mesmerizing her, "Not all of us are as blessed as you are."

"In your own way you are," she shot back, then reached down to pinch Arizona's ass.

Yelping as she opened the door, she was about to put her key in the small bowl on the table next to the door before she saw the note next to it. It was Tim's handwriting, reading, _Z, were feeling better. Felt shitty that you had to work alone last night. You take tonight off._

Her hand tightened briefly on the paper as Callie shut the door, "What's that?"

"Uh, Tim and Alex, told me to take the night off," and just like that, the air grew thick between them.

All of her self-control had been tested today, watching and touching and feeling that long body, but in public and still covered, albeit scantily. And the fact that they were alone in her house now, for sure uninterrupted for the rest of the night…

She could _feel_ how close Callie was, feel her body heat against her back, as she dipped her head down and those plump lips made a connection with her neck. It was a light brushing, over the spot on where her shoulder met the back of her neck, the same place those hands had taken their time to rub in sunblock, and she felt herself shiver against the words that came low out of Callie's throat, "How… interesting."

A shuddering sigh came out of her as Callie's tongue flicked out, tasting the sun-kissed, faintly salt-watery taste of her skin, "Very interesting."

"So, you're telling me," she slid her lips down, ending on her shoulder, "That there won't be any Tim or Alex walking in, and," she moved her mouth back up, finishing with an open mouthed kiss to the nape of her neck, "Yelling at us for doing something against the rules?"

Turning around, her breath was already ragged, and her hands gripped Callie's hips, "That's correct."

She barely got the words out before two hands were on her hips, pulling her in and forcing her up onto her tiptoes as Callie's mouth crashed into hers, teeth first nipping at her bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth, and blue eyes nearly rolled back into her head. Then she pulled herself back, with the last thread of self-control she had, "Callie… is this moving too fast?"

The brunette reversed their positions, ending with Arizona's back against the door, a leg slipping between her thighs and pushing upwards, making her gasp, then moan, as Callie's mouth hovered right above hers, "Arizona… we've known each other since high school. I'm counting today as our third date – so we've been on three dates. We've hung out several other times. I've met Tim and Alex and Max. And we've shared a bed. If that's not enough qualification to have sex," she put annunciation on that word with a press of her thigh against Arizona's heat, making her mouth fall open as the grinded down onto the offered leg, as Callie finished, barely getting the words out herself as she felt thrashed by desire, "Then I don't know what is."

Arizona dove her hands into dark hair and pulled Callie's face back to hers, whispering, "You're so, so right," before tugging her back down.

As their tongues slid against one another, she felt Callie's hands pulling at her shirt, lifting, breaking their kiss to pant, "Off."

She very nearly complied before her hands tightened into fists in that raven hair and then let go, smoothing down Callie's shoulders, and lightly skimming them down her arms, "No."

It took a few moments before her word sunk in, and the taller woman pulled back, her confusion palpable, "No?"

She confirmed, "No. Because we're not going to have hurried foyer sex." Using her hands on Callie's hips, she moved the pliant brunette back a step, "I've wanted this for _years_, Callie. We're going to go up to my bedroom. And I am going to take my time and strip you of every single piece of clothing on your body. And we're going to be on my bed and I am going to worship your entire body with my hands and then my mouth."

Arizona's words went straight to her core, and she was positive she was already soaked through her bikini bottoms – and they were made to get wet. She reached down and took Arizona's hands in hers, "Then let's go up to your room."

They hardly had the door shut behind them when Arizona had bunched her sundress into her hands, slowly sliding it up, revealing the bikini clad skin from earlier. Pulling the dress completely off, she tossed it behind her, now taking in the same body she'd seen all day, but with different purpose.

Because now it was hers to touch. Coming in, she pressed her lips against Callie's and the brunette's tongue moved against the roof of her mouth, as her hands slid up her back, untying the flimsy bikini ties of both the top and the bottom and letting them fall to the ground, but not releasing Callie's mouth, as she felt those long fingered hands, not rushed as they were downstairs, come to her hips, urging down her pants, before playing at the hem of her shirt.

She broke their kiss so Callie could pull it off before dropping her eyes down to the naked body of Callie Torres for the first time. Arizona wasn't sure but she thought she might have died and gone to heaven; this body was the most perfectly sculpted thing on the planet.

"Your bikini," Callie said to her, snapping her out of her reverie somewhat, and then plump lips pressed into hers again, her fingers dipping under the waist of her bikini bottoms, and peeling them down, and Arizona reached back to unclasp the top herself.

When everything was finally gone, she walked them backwards until Callie's knees hit the bed, and she climbed on top of her, pressing kissing into her skin, "You – are – so – incredibly – beautiful."

Callie ran her hands down Arizona's back, then slid to her hips, then her butt, then back around, dancing up her stomach, "Arizona, you're perfect." Because she wasn't sure there was anyone else who could look so gorgeous. Her breasts were perky, and they were the _perfect_ size for Callie to fit into her hands, and she did, flicking her thumbs over her nipples.

Arizona arched into the touch before sliding her hand down, tracing light patterns into caramel skin, planting her mouth on any skin she could reach as her fingers came into contact with Callie's center. Letting out a light moan, she ran her lips down, kissing the side of one of those amazingly heavy breasts before circling her fingers lower.

Callie knew it should have been embarrassing, but she could have already had an orgasm by now, and she panted with the effort of holding it in, because she knew Arizona wanted it to be slow. Arizona wanted to take her time – take _their_ time – and her fingers were just a feather light touch on her clit, which normally wouldn't be enough to make her come.

Straining with the effort of keeping it back, she forced her hips to be as still as possible, as Arizona parted her, flicking more firmly against her bundle of nerves. A long, low moan ripped it's way from the back of her throat, as the lips that had been planting kisses on her chest finally encased a nipple, and she couldn't stop herself from bucking into her hand more firmly, and tangling her fists into blonde hair.

Just as the tip of Arizona's finger went lower, circling her entrance at the same time that her thumb flicked her clit, and her tongue laved at her breast, she _knew_ she was going to be pushed over the edge that easily, "Fuck," she whimpered, biting her bottom lip painfully.

As soon as she felt that finger enter her, a strangled cry left her, and her orgasm came crashing in. Digging her head into the pillow, she closed her eyes, a string of moans and sighs leaving her as she came.

After, she melted back down onto the bed, and she didn't know if she'd ever felt more satisfied in her entire life. Her first release in almost two and a half years from someone who wasn't herself, and god, she felt fucking good.

Then she opened her eyes to wide, dark blue ones right above her, searching her face. Arizona's entire being felt like it was throbbing, "Did you just –" she cut herself off as she got a sheepish, yet incredibly relieved smile in response.

Callie had a hard time mustering up the ability to be embarrassed or apologetic, "I just… it's been so long, and you feel so good…"

"Fuck," Arizona breathed out, lowering her head to connect their lips, "Again. Can you again?" she asked, her fingers still lightly rubbing at her core.

And despite the fact that she just came, she was still incredibly turned on, "Mmhmm, yes."

This time, Arizona bypassed those magnificent breasts, zipping straight down Callie's body until her face was inches away from her heat. When Callie came this time, she was going to taste it, she thought, leaning in and licking up and down her slit, once, then twice, tasting the remainder of the first, unexpected, orgasm.

They both moaned. Keeping her fingers circling around Callie's clit, she moved down, sliding the tip of her tongue inside her wetness, groaning. The first time she'd ever tasted this woman, and she was fucking incredible. She dove in as deep as she could, moving in and out and drinking in everything Callie had to give.

When those hands tangled in her hair once again – god, she loved having a woman's hands in her hair, and the fact that it was _this_ woman, made Arizona so wet, she was certain that _she_ was soaking the sheets without even being touched – she moaned, the vibration causing Callie to arch her hips up into her face.

Then she switched spots, bringing her mouth up to encase Callie's clit, and her fingers down to her entrance. Using the same one that had barely entered inside before the first orgasm, she circled once more, then pushed in all the way, and Callie whimpered, then groaned. And whimpered again, when she pulled out, then moved back in. After a few more thrusts, she added a second finger, and flicked her tongue over her clit, keeping the same rhythm with tongue and fingers, and it wasn't long before those hands in her hair tightened almost painfully, and her name echoed around the room.

She took her time bringing her down, slowly pulling out and planting one last kiss against her clit, before moving up Callie's body, ending with both knees on either side of her hips, and she could feel Callie's heat against her own, which – combined with the fact that she'd just made her come twice, the second time screaming her name – she knew it would not take long at all for her to finish.

And she desperately needed to, "Cal –"

Was all she got out before the woman below her moved her hand to slide between their bodies, her fingertips ghosting over Arizona's clit, her voice gravelly and amazed, "You're so wet. I can feel you, dripping onto me."

Her hands came up to brace themselves on strong shoulders, and she grit her teeth, "Callie, I need –"

And that was all her strangled voice had to say before Callie turned her hand, and slid two fingers inside of her. The full feeling making her snap her head back, a moan coming out of her mouth, "Yes, yes. Yes."

As Callie pushed in and out, Arizona's heat felt like she was burning her fingers. She pushed herself up onto her elbow to better watch how the blonde worked herself, riding her hand, her gasps and groans leaving those pink lips as she bit her lip. Fuck, Arizona Robbins was gorgeous.

Leaning in, she took one of those rosy buds into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it and then she started pumping her fingers faster, sliding her palm so it worked over Arizona's clit, making her groans turn into longer moans, "Cal – Callie, oh my fuck – Callie!"

She tightened around her, and she could feel the rhythmic clenching as she continued to move, lightly, letting her ride out the aftershocks, as she lightly suckled at her breast. When Arizona took in a long, shuddering breath, she pulled back, making eye contact with nearly navy eyes.

Minutes later, Arizona rolled onto her side, Callie's fingers coming out of her, and she gasped for breath, still trembling with the aftereffects from her orgasm, keeping an arm and a leg draped over Callie's midsection, "Oh my fucking god," the words came out on a moan, her pleasure-rocked body feeling so incredible, "I've wanted to do that since high school."

Callie's nose nuzzled into her neck, "If you did that to me in high school, I would have clearly come to my senses a lot earlier than I did."

If Arizona had done to her body what she'd just done – repeatedly – in high school, Callie never even would have left the blonde's bed. She glided her hand up Arizona's sweat slicked stomach, coming up to cup a breast and tweaking the still hard nipple with her fingers, before scratching her nails back down, feeling Arizona's stomach bounce with laughter, "What's so funny?"

The blonde shook her head, still giggling, "It's just… I couldn't do some of that in high school. Braces and all."

Chuckling, she brought her head down, connecting their lips and still tasting herself on them, then rolling over onto Arizona's body, "You know what's a good thing now, though? No braces."

She slid her mouth down, between the blonde's breasts but not stopping on her way to her destination, smiling slightly as she felt Arizona's breath hitch, "Again?"

"Oh, yeah. We've got a lot of lost time to make up for," she whispered, before she reached the junction between her legs, lightly blowing her breath over the still soaked lips, the way Arizona jerked and moaned made her grin, before she sought out her hooded clit and slid her lips over it very quickly before backing away, "Unless… you don't want to go again?" she asked with a smirk.

Two hands tangled their way into her hair, hips arching up at her, "Again. Again, again," she urged, breathless.

She dove back in, wrapping her lips around the bundle of nerves, moaning at the taste. Perfect. So, so perfect.

_June 2_

There was a shifting on the bed that drew her from sleep, and Arizona slowly blinked open her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, feeling muscles ache and react in the most perfect way that she hadn't felt in too long. A content sigh fell from her lips, and she grinned as she realized that Callie was moving, and had managed to not drop her off the side of the bed as she did so.

Taking advantage of this moment – because she'd gone to sleep, exhausted, cuddled up to the brunette, with an arm wrapped tightly around her waist, but somehow, again, the goddess in bed with her had rearranged them so that she was on the edge – she rolled back into the center of the bed, her hand automatically reaching out to touch any part of that soft, gloriously naked body.

When she came into contact with still-warm sheets, she quickly pushed herself up onto her elbow, narrowing her eyes against the bright morning sun filing in through the window, just in time to watch Callie bend down and retrieve the sundress Arizona had thrown lifted off of her hours ago.

Confused, she looked at the alarm clock – it was just barely seven in the morning, "You know, two mornings in a row of you sneaking out before I'm awake is kind of terrible for a girl's ego." She shouldn't have this slight feeling of insecurity inside of her… but she did. She _knew_ that last night had been good – _great_ – for Callie, because she'd felt it, tasted it.

But what if this was it? What if Callie had been after satiating that incredibly long dry spell, and after the incomparable, marathon of sex that satisfied that need, she was fulfilled? Her stomach knotted, while her mind started to race, "So, is that… was last night it?"

Fuck, she didn't want to be clingy. She didn't want to be that woman who spent one night with another woman – no matter how beautiful and responsive a lover and how much she liked to spend time with her – and then just become clingy. Become the woman who was going to make things into a bigger deal than they were. Biting her bottom lip, she tried to be as nonchalant as she could manage, shrugging, "I mean, if that's what you want, then, I get it."

Her eyebrows furrowed together as her mind rejected the words spilling out of her mouth, "Actually, I kind of don't, because I really like you and I _really_ liked last night and you have this body that makes me –" she shuddered just thinking about it, and looked up, her eyes moving over said still-naked body, looking at breasts that were just begging for attention that she wanted to give them, then she made herself look away, taking a deep breath, at a loss for what to say next.

Then she didn't have to say anything because those plump lips were on hers, in a light kiss, and just as Callie nibbled gently on her bottom lip, sending sparks shooting through her, she brought her hands up to tangle in the ends of those dark hair. And then the taller woman pulled away, chuckling a little bit, as she sat on the edge of the bed next to Arizona, lifting her hand to tuck some unruly blonde waves behind her ear.

"Arizona, last night wasn't "it" – it _was_ incredible – you are – and I was going to wake you up to say goodbye after I'd gotten dressed. My grandparents are coming in today; I have to be there for breakfast with them at eight thirty. There's this whole day planned, and I haven't seen them since before I went to Botswana," she waved a long fingered hand in the air, looking at her with brown eyes that were absolutely glowing in their amusement.

She felt her cheeks heat up in a blush, even as a smile came across her face, "Oh. Right, yeah." Her eyes fell to those full breasts once again, and her throat ran dry, her hands clenching into the blankets on her bed to resist the urge to touch. Because Callie had to go home and get ready for her grandparents' breakfast, and there was no time. Not _now_ anyway, "Do you… Can you come to the bar tonight?" Arizona could feel her cheeks burn even more – she would never understand why her words could still become jumbled even after several dates and spending the night together, "Not that – I mean, you don't have to. I'll be there. Obviously. So if you have nothing going on…"

Callie chuckled again, moving her hand down so it was under Arizona's chin, and bringing their lips back together briefly, where she also grinned into the kiss, as that laughing mouth vibrated against hers, "You are the most mind-boggling, delectable mix of adorable and sexy that I've ever seen," she whispered, and Arizona shivered at the feeling of the lips moving against hers as Callie spoke before she had pulled far enough away that she could see one of those perfect eyebrows arch, "Arizona, have I or have I not been to the bar every night for three weeks when you're working?"

A slim shoulder shrugged and she tipped her head in acknowledgement, "You have. I just… now that we've had sex, I didn't know…" shaking her head, she smiled, "I didn't know I was such an irresistable combination of sexy and adorable."

Callie hummed in agreement, sliding her hand down from cupping Arizona's jaw to her neck, stroking her fingers lightly against the skin her mouth had worked magic on hours ago, goose bumps rising in their wake, "Now that we've had sex," she repeated, quietly, "I want to see you even more. I plan on taking an obsene pleasure in watching you work in your little cutoff shorts and knowing that you have a bite mark on your inner thigh from me. And then, if it's okay with you, coming back here and doing it all over again."

Her voice dropped a few timbers and it just skimmed right over Arizona's skin, making her shiver, as her smile grew to a beam and she felt her heart flutter a bit in her chest, "Of course it's all right with me. I mean, you do have a lot to make up for. Two and a half years is a long time. And I would consider it my civic duty to continue to reintroduce you to the sex world."

Those short nails scratched lightly into her skin, as Callie leaned in and planted a kiss on her chin, "I would consider it a personal favor."

After a second, Arizona pulled back a little bit, eyes narrowed in question as she pulled aside the sheet she had pulled up to her waist, a confused look crossing over her face, "Callie… I don't have a bite on the inside of my thigh."

"I know. I was just opening the door for another round," she murmured, leaning in, capturing the blonde's mouth with hers, and her body came forward, pressing into Arizona's, urging her back down onto the pillows.

A moan bubbled out of her throat, her center throbbing in tempo with her heart, as those bare breasts rubbed against hers, "God," she gasped, as Callie disconnected their lips and started pressing them down her jawline, making her way to her earlobe. Already panting, Arizona braced her hands on those strong shoulders, flexing, but unable to push her away, her protest feeble as that mouth started to work on her, "You – you have to – uhhh – grandparents breakfast, soon."

Callie's lips were already kissing down her body, on their way to her chest, making her mind go blurry, as they barely lifted from her skin to whisper, "We'll be quick."

* * *

**Please let me know what you thought! This chapter ended up being a lot longer than expected. Thank you for letting me know what you thought to everyone who already has, and thank you for reading!**


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